Prince George's County Public Schools largely pleased with audit results

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - Five months after a D.C. consulting firm was asked to take a second look at issues affecting graduation rates in Prince George's County - the results are in.

The Board of Education was briefed on the report, which FOX 5 obtained on Tuesday.

Officials in Prince George's County told FOX 5's Paul Wagner that they were generally pleased with the results - noting that it gave them "high marks" in the wake of a 2017 graduation scandal in the district.

A 2017 audit found that about 30 percent of students were ineligible to graduate.

The highlights from the new audit - which examined the graduating class of 2018 - include:
1. Prince George's County Public schools greatly reduced the degree to which grade changes were used and misused.

2. PGCPS nearly eliminated issues with graduating students who have not met transcript or service learning requirements.

3 PGCPS significantly increased awareness of and compliance with administrative procedure (AP) and state requirements.

4. PGCPS did not provide sufficient oversight and support to enforce attendance accountability.

5. That PGCPS did not attempt to adhere to attendance-related grading policies, and that PGCPS Central Office did not support appropriate tools and analysis needed to support enforcement of this rule.

The auditors found a sample of 1,085 students from the 7,273 graduates in 2018 and looked at their graduation rate.

They found that only six of those students were ineligible.

Overall, the report found that Prince George's County schools:

- Fully addressed 33 recommendations;
- Partially addressed four recommendations;
- Did not address three recommendations in their Action Plan.