District Attorney: 5 charged with $1 million teacher certification scheme in Houston

Five people who are or have been employed with a Houston school district were arrested for allegedly orchestrating a $1 million teacher certification scheme, the Harris County District Attorney's Office announced.

During a news conference Tuesday, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said five people have been charged with two counts each of engaging in organized criminal activity, and first and third-degree felony charges that can carry sentences ranging from two years to life imprisonment.

The scheme involved a teacher impersonator taking the exam in front of a corrupt testing proctor, according to Ogg. Once the exam was complete, the proctor allowed the impersonator to turn in the exam using the actual applicant's name, she said.

More than 200 unqualified teachers were certified through this scheme, and all of them have either practiced or are practicing in Texas public schools, Ogg said.

All five of the charged individuals are or were employees of the Houston Independent School District (HISD), including Vincent Grayson, 57; Tywana Gilford Mason, 51; Nicholas Newton, 35; LaShonda Roberts, 39; and Darian Nikole Wilhite, 22, according to the district attorney's office.

Grayson, the head boys basketball coach for HISD's Booker T. Washington High School, was identified as the "kingpin" and is estimated to have grossed more than $1 million from the scheme, Mike Levine, a felony chief in the DA Office’s Public Corruption Division, said during the news conference.

He has worked at the high school for nearly 20 years, Ogg said.

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'A complete betrayal of the public trust'

"HISD was made aware of the investigation into an alleged cheating conspiracy shortly before arrests were made. Any educator who engages in conduct of this nature abdicates their responsibility to our students and to our staff and represents a complete betrayal of the public trust," an HISD spokesperson said in a statement to Paste BN.

"HISD will cooperate fully with the Texas Education Agency and state and local law enforcement as the investigation progresses," the statement continued. "All three of these employees have been arrested and will be receiving notifications relieving them of their duties effective immediately."

The school district, which serves over 189,000 students, also wrote in the statement that if it is "determined that any teachers currently working in HISD participated in this scheme or passed their certification exams fraudulently, we will take swift action to terminate their employment with the district."

Ogg said the scheme goes back as far as her office can take it, which is around May 2020, but the "extent of the scheme will never be fully known."

Other HISD employees implicated in $1 million scheme

The roles of the other HISD employees involved in the scheme were identified by the DA's Office:

• Tywana Gilford Mason, the former director/VA certifying official at the Houston Training and Education Center, was allegedly the test proctor who kept the scheme undetected.
• Nicholas Newton, an assistant principal at Booker T. Washington High School, is alleged to have participated in the scheme as the proxy test-taker.
• Darian Nikole Wilhite, a proctor at TACTIX, is alleged to have taken bribes to allow Newton to act as a testing proxy.
• LaShonda Roberts, an assistant principal at Yates High School in HISD, is accused of recruiting nearly 100 teachers to participate in the cheating scheme.

Of the teachers who were falsely certified, at least two of them were "sexual predators" who gained access to underage children on and off campus through their employment within the school system, according to Ogg. One of the teachers has been charged with indecency with a child, while the other was charged for online solicitation, the DA said.

Former coach was whistleblower for scheme

A former coach who was applying to be a police officer in a different part of Texas "had an attack of conscience" and came forward to authorities about the scheme, according to Ogg.

"The most interesting irony to me in this circle of greed is that in spite of the perpetrators being the type of people that we trust our kids with, it was actually a good Samaritan with a conscience that brought this scheme to light," the DA said.

Ogg also said the scheme was "well known among teacher applicants wanting to be certified." Numerous teacher certification candidates would drive from "far-flung cities" away from Houston, including Dallas-Fort Worth or farther to participate in the scheme, Levine said.

"Often, these people had previously failed one or more attempts at the certification exam," according to Levine. "They then drove sometimes four or more hours to the Houston area, and suddenly they were passing the test with flying colors."

Once Ogg's office received the tip from the coach, they then learned about an email address, a phone number, a Cash App and eventually the identities of the defendants, Levine said. Investigators have interviewed dozens of teachers, and about 20 of them have cooperated and all told very similar versions of events, he added.

How did the scheme work?

The scheme worked by candidates paying Grayson around $2,500, and he in turn would forward roughly 20% of the money to Mason so she would be willing to allow the cheating to occur, according to Levine. The candidate would then be told where and when the test would be, he said.

The candidate would come to the designated area, sign in and leave a few minutes later, Levine said. Upon leaving, Newton would come in and take and pass the test, he said. From May 2020 through February 2024, Ogg's office estimates that Newton took over 430 certification tests fraudulently impersonating teaching candidates.

In total, Grayson made $1.09 million from the scheme, Mason was paid at least $125,000 and Newton received over $188,000, according to Levine. Wilhite took $250 each time she let a candidate sign in and leave, he added.

"Teachers and coaches who help influence children's behavior, we count on them for their moral compass," Levine said. "To think that this many people without what I would consider a proper moral compass are trying to educate and influence children all across the state is troubling."