November 29, 2017

Dear DCPS Families,

I’m sure many of you have seen the recent news story about Ballou High School’s 2017 graduating class. Please be assured that we take the allegations in this story seriously. At DCPS, a diploma is a passport to what’s next in life. It means students are prepared for college, career, and life. Students should only pass a course when they have demonstrated mastery of the material. The students who walk through our doors deserve nothing short of being prepared for their futures.

The Mayor has asked the Office of the State Superintendent (OSSE) to conduct an audit of Ballou High School’s grading and attendance records. I’ve also instructed my staff to conduct a thorough review of policies and adherence to policies across the district. We believe that every school must work with excellence, fidelity, transparency, and accountability. This review will give us a full picture of what happened, and it will help us implement measures that ensure we are serving every student, every school, every day.

These allegations do not reflect our collective mission and vision at DCPS. As a district, I’m proud of the well-rounded education that our students receive from our strong workforce. We have a robust curriculum and have made progress across the city on several measures, including the PARCC assessment and the NAEP assessment. More students than ever before are enjoying school at DCPS. I will share more information in the coming weeks. If you have any questions, please contact your school leader.

Respectfully,

Antwan Wilson
Chancellor

Click here to download a PDF version of this letter.