Former principal faces hearing on test tampering allegations

A former high school principal is facing charges of professional misconduct after being accused of tampering with Ontario’s literacy test.

The Ontario College of Teachers says it conducted an investigation and found that some students were called back to the school to complete parts of the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test after it was supposed to be concluded.

Christine Vellinga, who was then a principal with the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board, is accused of reviewing test booklets to find incomplete tests and telling teachers to do the same.

The Education Quality and Ac- countability Office, which creates and administers the test, says the results are used to produce annual school board reports. They’re also used to track children’s progress throughout their schooling.

In its notice of a disciplinary hearing, the college alleges that in 2016, Vellinga called 21 students back to school to complete portions of the test they had missed, directing them to specific parts of the booklet — and asked the acting vice-principal to do the same.

Vellinga is also accused of not ensuring that students were properly supervised while in possession of the test and allegedly telling one student, “you were never here.”

She is expected to appear before a disciplinary committee on Jan. 26.

The college says the school board suspended Vellinga for 20 days without pay, and demoted her to the role of vice-principal.

The office that administers the test also conducted an investigation and found that there had been “irregularities” in the tests. As a result, the EQAO withheld the school’s results of that year’s tests from its reports.

Also accused are a former acting vice-principal and a teacher, but dates for their disciplinary hearings have not been announced.

Andrew Burke, then acting vice-principal, was suspended by the school board without pay for 10 days, and Gregory Quinn was suspended for five days.

Neither representatives for the school board, nor lawyers for the accused immediately responded to requests for comment.