Former Cooper H.S. Teacher Denies Test Tampering Allegations While At Ubah Academy

(Written and originally posted by James Sanna on Southwest Minneapolis Patch. The following combines two article postings.)

Days after being fired as Washburn High School's new principal, former Robbinsdale Cooper High School teacher Patrick Exner is denying allegations he tampered with test scores at Ubah Medical Academy and criticized his accuser's use of anonymity.

In a Aug. 15 letter submitted to Patch and the Star Tribune, Exner said he was "dismayed" by his accuser's use of anonymity.

"Today, I reflect on the events of the last two weeks in utter dismay that under the veil of anonymity an individual was given the power to disrupt the plans for leadership at Washburn High School and leave me with an uncertain future," Exner wrote.

Exner said that when he decided to leave Ubah Medical Academy in Hopkins, where he was the associate director, he was "in good standing" with the school, and held a contract to return for the 2013-14 school year. He denied tampering with students' test scores.

Exner also said he initially applied for a different position with the Minneapolis Public Schools, but was asked to instead apply for the Washburn principal position.

Read the full letter here.

Meanwhile, according to a report in the Star Tribune, Minneapolis Public Schools officials missed or disregarded multiple "red flags" in Exner's resume.

Exner told Minneapolis Public Schools he was Ubah's head and misstated the total number of students at the school by 10 percent. Both facts are easy to verify with cursory Google searches and examination of publicly-available state databases.

Exner also took credit for a 2011 rise in standardized tests scores but did not mention or explain why scores dropped again in 2012. 

Exner was fired less than a week after being hired when allegations emerged that he had tampered with state standardized test scores last year. Assistant Principal Linda Conley will lead the school with help from retired administrator Craig Vana until a permanent replacement can be found.

The fiasco has district officials examining hiring processes.

"There are definitely areas we can improve," the district's new deputy head Michael Goar told the newspaper, saying Exner's hiring process was rushed in an effort to get a principal in place before the start of the school year.

(Note: Exner has not worked for Robbinsdale School District for some time, but was well known in the school district community by staff, students and others.)