More arrests possible in Newpoint case

More arrests may be coming in the Newpoint tests tampering case

Christopher David Fowler, a former Newpoint High teacher, was charged Monday with four misdemeanor counts of violating Florida's Test Administration and Security Law, according to State Attorney Bill Eddins and Escambia County School District Superintendent Malcolm Thomas.

Fowler, 30, was a teacher at the high school and it is alleged that he illegally assisted students during end-of-course assessment testing. Fowler is scheduled to be arraigned June 22.

Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille said the overall investigation is continuing and additional arrests may be possible.

He said Fowler allegedly tampered with Algebra 1, Geometry and U.S. History end-of-course testing January-May 2013 and January-May 2014.

"There is a statute that makes it illegal for an individual to assist a student in taking a test, and the allegations are that he (Fowler) illegally assisted students by indicating what the correct answers would be," Marcille said.

The investigation revealed that several students allegedly were assisted by Fowler, Marcille said.

"There may have been other students in other classes he assisted," Marcille said.

Each charge constitutes a first degree misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in county jail. Bonds were set at a total of $2,000 and Fowler was released from jail on Monday.

The charges resulted from a joint investigation by investigators from the Office of the State Attorney and the school district. Thomas said the school district has cooperated with the State Attorney Office and would continue to throughout the investigation.

"I knew what these allegations were and that this arrest was coming," Thomas said Monday afternoon. He referred other questions about the investigation and arrests to the State Attorney Office.

The school district had already concluded its investigation and on May 19, the Escambia County School Board voted to terminate the charters for Newpoint High and Newpoint Academy, a middle school. The contracts will end Aug. 17.

Following the board meeting, Hampton Johnson, an attorney representing Newpoint (Pensacola) Education Partners, said the decisions will be appealed.

Thomas said Newpoint schools' administrators had committed "contractual violations." And in his recommendation to the school board, the superintendent listed 14 violations that were found during the district investigation. They were:

•Some Newpoint High students had only completed a small part of the curriculum in some classes — 15 percent in geometry, 20 percent in calculus and 20 percent in Spanish.

•No grades had been entered in grade books for English, chemistry and precalculus students. The schools use Apex Learning, an entirely digital curricula. Grades and other student information also were supposed to be entered in the school district's FOCUS system.

•Numerous students' cumulative records were missing. During a Feb. 20 visit, Escambia officials examined the records for 50 students and found only 22 had cumulative folders. Officials went back to the schools March 24 and looked at 128 records — 61 were in good standing, 18 had temporary cumulative folders and 49 students had no information.

•The felony arrest of a juvenile charged with burglarizing and vandalizing the school was not entered into the district's FOCUS system.

•An employee who had not passed a Level 2 background check worked at the school from Aug. 18-Dec. 17.

•During a senior trip/cruise, teachers/chaperones and some underage students drank alcoholic beverages.

Five Flags Academy at Newpoint was granted a 30-day reprieve after board members unanimously decided to postpone voting on the elementary school's contract until the June 16 board meeting.

The three charter schools had a total of about 350 students — the elementary has 75 to 80 of those students.

Newpoint High and Newpoint Academy opened in August 2011. Five Flags Academy opened in August. The charters for the high and middle schools were up for renewal in 2016. Five Flags Academy's charter expires in 2019.

Carla Lovett, Newpoint Education Partners' executive director, could not be reached for comment on Fowler's arrest and the State Attorney Office investigation.