‘It’s a shame’: FDLE arrests 3 former Hudson High School teachers accused in $708,000 cheating scandal
HUDSON, Fla. - Three former Pasco County teachers have been arrested and thousands of student agricultural certifications have been invalidated following a multi-year cheating scandal at Hudson High School.
Robert "Rob" Edward Herrington, 38, of Port Richey, Harold "Jim" James Martin III, 47, of Hudson, and Kathleen "Kate" Rebecca Troutman, 31, of Bradford, Arkansas, are accused of masterminding a cheating scandal that put thousands of dollars in their pockets and pumped more than half a million dollars into the agricultural departments at Pasco County schools.
According to FDLE, Agriculture Education Services and Technology (AEST), a subsidiary of the Florida Farm Bureau, which provides certification exams for high school students hoping to work in the agriculture industry, received an anonymous phone call from a former Hudson High School student saying they had cheated on AEST certification exams last April.
Immediately following the accusation, AEST initiated a state-wide audit of its program between July 2018 and April 2021. Before it finished the audit, FDLE Tampa Bay Special Agent in Charge Mark Brutnell says AEST received a second phone call and a text message detailing allegations of cheating by teachers at Hudson High School.
The audit revealed that Hudson High School students took more certification exams than any other school in Florida, their students completed the tests in less than half the time of other students, and they had much higher pass rates, according to FDLE.
In the fall of 2020, Pasco Schools officials noted the higher-than-normal testing activity and pass rate and questioned one of the teachers about it. However, Pasco school officials were unable to prove any misbehavior because the district did not have access to the testing materials and data about test results.
"It’s important to note that for each completed AEST exam, the scheduling teacher receives a bonus from the Florida Department of Education of either $25 or $50 depending on the exam. In addition, the Florida Department of Education paid Pasco County School District between $400 and $800 for each certification passed to enhance their agriculture program. You should also know that the Pasco County School District purchased AEST exams for Hudson High School over this four-year period at a cost rate of $80,000," Brutnell stated.
Before being allowed to administer the exams, teachers are required to pass them using the same requirements as the students, taking the tests individually, without study guides or test materials and with a proctor present.
Brutnell says when FDLE agents began investigating they found that none of the mandatory requirements were followed.
"Not a single proctor was used in any of these tests," Brutnell said. "Instead, Harold Martin, Kate Troutman and Rob Herrington took the exams together and they used the exams, and I’ll coin it from their own mouth, as ‘study guides’ to be given to their students. These guides were the exact copies of the exams. Students were also allowed to use the ‘study guides’ during their exams. Our investigation has revealed that 284 students took exams using study guides."
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The teachers are also accused of recruiting certain students to produce additional "study guides". As students were taking the test, Brutnell says the teachers would photograph the questions and answers with a cell phone. These photographs were then later used to produce and update the "study guides" which were passed around to the students for future tests in the AEST program.
He said the teachers also gave students answers during exams and one teacher took the exam for students to ensure a passing grade.
‘If it gets any worse, exceptional student education, ESE students routinely had their exams taken for them. Often, ESE students were not even aware that they were scheduled to take the exam, but, yet, passed the exam."
As a result of this crime, AEST has said it will invalidate more than 1,000 certification exams taken by the students at Hudson High School.
"This was a cheating scandal," Brutnell shared. "Greed and cheating at the most barest level. And the fact that these ESE students were involved in that, really, personally, offends me."
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The Pasco County School District says two of the accused teachers resigned, and one has remained on unpaid leave.
Mugshots for Harold Martin III and Robert Herrington, who are accused in a $708,000 cheating scandal in Pasco County. Courtesy: Pasco County Sheriff's Office. Note: Kathleen Troutman's mugshot was not immediately available.
"We are extremely disappointed in these teachers who were placed in a position of trust, and repeatedly chose to violate that trust," said Pasco Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning. "They took advantage of students for personal gain, and that kind of behavior is shocking to teachers everywhere who sacrifice for their students every day."
Pasco County Schools and AEST say they have put in several internal controls to prevent a situation like this from happening again.
"It’s just a shame," Brutnell stated. "I feel bad for the kids who thought they got certification, and now they’re in the field of their dreams and now this could potentially be in question because three individuals wanted to throw some money in their pocket."
The teachers have been charged with organized scheme to defraud.
Arrangements are being made for students to retake their tests for free. Pasco County Schools is also working with the AEST and the Florida Department of Education to pay back that money.