South Country schools order grading probe
A photo of Bellport High School Principal Kevin O'Connell in Bellport High School's 2011 yearbook.
The superintendent of South Country Central School district on Monday ordered an inquiry into his high school's grading practices after an allegation from a fired principal that a football star's grades were changed so he would qualify for an athletic scholarship to Syracuse University.
Kevin O'Connell, former principal at Bellport High School, said he was forced out this year after refusing to pressure a teacher to boost Ryan Sloan's grades. O'Connell, now an administrator in the Roosevelt school district, isn't suing in the courts. He said he is pursuing his claim through the school district, asking for $51,000 in lost wages.
O'Connell said district superintendent Joe Cipp Jr., who was the school's football coach for 32 years until retiring from that position earlier this year, and other top officials pushed subordinates to raise Sloan's math scores so he could meet NCAA standards. Sloan graduated in June and is a freshman at Syracuse.
The New York Post, which first reported the allegations Monday, said O'Connell gave the newspaper copies of Sloan's report cards and a final transcript sent to Syracuse.
School officials said the accusations were baseless. "I've never changed a grade," Cipp said. "Anybody who knows me knows I would never do that."
Cipp, 63 -- the winningest coach in Suffolk County history with 211 victories -- said he never pressured anyone else to make such a change. "It would never happen," he said.
South Country Central Board of Education President Victor Correa, without naming those involved, said a fired employee raised allegations this year that a student's grade was "reported incorrectly," and a district review found "grades were accurate."
Ryan Sloan, in a phone interview, said, "It doesn't add up. Why would he [Cipp] risk his job for one person? I did what I had to do by going to class. I studied. I was at extra help every day with my teachers doing what needed to be done."
Sloan, who said he is getting A's and B's at Syracuse, said, "Coach Cipp gave me the tools that I needed. He told me if I wanted to play Division I football, I would have to start doing what I needed to do in class. He told me this multiple times. I just finally started listening to him."
"I started doing what I needed to do and that's how I got here, not because someone changed my grades."
Cipp said that because of media inquiries, he had ordered the high school's principal "to conduct a top-to-bottom review of the grading practices used" and report the results to the board at its Dec. 14 meeting.
O'Connell said he was asked before an April meeting with Cipp, Sloan, his guardians and others to talk to Sloan's math teacher about his grades. O'Connell said he talked to the teacher about Sloan's performance in class. O'Connell said he calculated that Sloan needed to earn an 84 on both his fourth-quarter report card and final exam to pass the class.
O'Connell said he was told by another administrator he didn't name that the school officials were disappointed he didn't make the teacher change the grades. "Two days later, I get a letter telling me I will be recommended for dismissal," he said.
O'Connell said, however, that he was never directly asked to make a grade switch.
Sloan's guardians -- the athlete's mother died in 2003 and he never knew his father -- said the accusations were unfounded, and that he turned around his grades through hard work. They say he stayed before and after school, seeking extra help.
"We sat him down and he responded positively to it," said Edward Carson, who along with his wife, Melissa, of East Patchogue, served as Sloan's guardians for much of his senior year. "He did what he needed to do."
NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn declined to comment on the allegations. But, generally, she said, it's the university's responsibility to investigate grade changing and whether it affected a student's eligibility status. Universities report their findings to the NCAA.
Syracuse won't comment on these specific allegations either, citing student privacy laws, according to Sue Edson, assistant director of athletics for communications. But Edson said the university works with the NCAA's eligibility center and the prospective student athlete's high school to vet athletes' academic records.
