POUGHKEEPSIE – A Poughkeepsie High School teacher, who was found guilty of nine charges of misconduct and conduct unbecoming a teacher, has been terminated by the school board.
Hearing officer Sheila Cole investigated and determined that Kenneth Barger lost “his ability to act as a positive role model for students.”
Barger was found guilty of giving improper and unauthorized aid to students on January 22, 2013 during the administration of the integrated Algebra Regents exam and allowed students to alter responses after their test materials were turned in and/or provided inadequate supervision of students who took the exam in the classrooms where he served as a proctor during the test.
He was also found guilty of filing a false instrument with the school district and state education department when he signed a document certifying the rules and regulations for administering the test were “fully and faithfully observed.”
Barger was also charged with failing to follow state directions for administering the Regents exam.
The hearing officer explained the extreme seriousness of the charges when she found, in relation to them that Barger “… helped students to cheat on a Regents examination, and then covered up his conduct,” “engaged in a conspiracy to give accommodations on Regents examinations to unclassified students who were not entitled to receive any testing accommodations and played a key role in carrying out the plan.”
She also said Barger “assisted students taking Regents examinations in the rooms he proctored by narrowing possible answers on multiple choice questions, giving prohibited explanations, hints, and prompts, and indicating to some students they had answered a question or questions incorrectly,” “ then, he hid documentary evidence of his involvement in the cheating plan from the district.”
Cole called “extremely troublesome” Barger’s failure to admit that he did anything wrong.
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