428 North Street
Chardon, OH 44024
440.285.4052
February 15, 2024
Dear Hilltopper Community,
Since I communicated with you on February 12 about the resignation of former Chardon High School Principal Doug Murray, media reports have made public knowledge that Mr. Murray’s resignation was the result of an internal school investigation that indicated he was involved in the unauthorized changing of grades for two students.
Our School District prides itself on promoting open lines of communication with our community. We understand the emotional response of some that we should have been more transparent in the original communication. However, we were legally bound by multiple state and federal statutes from doing so.
Most notably, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) prevents all schools from disclosing information from student education records without the parents’ consent. Although the media and general public have the right, at any time, to request public records with redacted information regarding investigations, our District must remain committed to protecting student identities and can’t be the source that compromises student confidentiality.
All students deserve the same level of protection. We are committed to meeting that standard.
What we shared in our February 12 letter is all we were legally allowed to say at the time because the pertinent information that led to our principal’s resignation was taken directly from student education records and would have revealed legally protected student information.
Now that many of the details are in the public domain, we can confirm that our District did conduct an investigation of allegations regarding the unauthorized changing of grades for two students by former Principal Murray. Our investigation determined that the allegations are likely true, which led to the resignation. Our District has since filed a report, as required, with the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce’s Office of Professional Conduct.
At this time, there is no evidence of additional grade changes beyond the two documented incidents, and the District is cooperating with local authorities in their investigation.
We are reviewing the affected students’ grades to ensure they reflect the students’ actual performance. More importantly, we are implementing a software monitoring system that alerts school district personnel of any data changes to help prevent a similar incident from happening in the future.
The District takes seriously any action that compromises the integrity of student grades and will continue to research opportunities to further strengthen our data systems.
Thank you for your support and understanding as we continue to navigate this situation.
Sincerely,
Michael P. Hanlon, Jr., Ph.D.
Superintendent
Chardon Local Schools