Former Dallas ISD auditor sues district over allegations of grade, attendance manipulation

A former Dallas schools auditor is suing the district, alleging that she was fired after reporting grade and attendance manipulation at a high school.

The lawsuit escalates Andrea Whelan’s ongoing whistleblower fight against the district, coming a month after Dallas ISD trustees denied her request to be reinstated.

“Dallas ISD does not comment on pending litigation,” district spokeswoman Robyn Harris said in an email.

During a September grievance hearing, Whelan argued that she was fired because she reported her findings to the Texas Education Agency. District administrators have denied that was the reason.

“I was terminated … because [DISD’s chief internal auditor] didn’t want to do his job and report problems that I had identified in my investigation,” Whelan said.

Her lawsuit, filed Thursday in district court, alleges that, in 2021, Whelan uncovered that high school administrators were giving course credit without students meeting certain attendance requirements or “producing any meaningful work.”

School officials had “substantial pressure” to boost student achievement and attendance, which impacts state funding allocations, she alleges.

Her draft report was rewritten at the direction of supervisors to omit significant details and to conclude allegations of manipulation were unsubstantiated, according to the lawsuit.

In early March 2022, Whelan was put on a performance improvement plan. Later that month, she reported her concerns of grade and attendance manipulation to the Texas Education Agency and notified her supervisor that she had done so.

Dallas ISD officials fired her shortly after.

“Ms. Whelan’s termination was a direct result of her report of violation of law to an appropriate law enforcement authority,” the lawsuit states.

During the public grievance hearing, Kathryn Long, the attorney representing district administrators, stressed that it was Whelan’s poor job performance — and not any whistleblowing — that was behind the decision to fire her.

“Her reports failed to adhere to proper investigative and auditing standards,” she said. “This investigation report had holes you could drive a Mack Truck through.”

What Whelan flagged as grade-changing was a school principal helping students with credit recovery amid ongoing pandemic disruptions, Long added.