Investigator: LI grid star did get grade boost

NY POST EXCLUSIVE 
February 6, 2012
By SELIM ALGAR

Top administrators at a Long Island school district intentionally inflated a star football player’s grades
in order to make him eligible for an athletic scholarship to Syracuse University, according to a bombshell report obtained by The Post.

The damning probe of Bellport HS found that district brass conspired to raise lineman Ryan Sloan’s
grades on an official transcript. The investigation also accused district superintendent and
legendary football coach Joe Cipp Jr. of doing nothing about the scheme.

“It is clear that Ryan Sloan’s grades were improperly changed at the direction of the administration,”
said the investigation conducted by Bronwyn Black, an independent investigator
and former Suffolk County assistant district attorney. “The totality of the circumstances as presented
by those interviewed leads to the conclusion that Mr. Cipp
must have been involved or must have known what was going on.”

Discipline is now in the hands of the school board, which Black said should take “all necessary actions.”

The 58-page report — ordered by the district school board under community pressure —
charges administrators with strong-arming teachers into boosting poor scores and
silencing potential whistle-blowers through forced transfers out of Bellport HS.

“The records reviewed reflect that in 2010 grades were changed and increased from D’s to C’s to B’s
in geometry, algebra, physical education and health,” the report states. “It is clear from the information
gathered that the administration wanted Ryan Sloan to get certain grades to guarantee the NCAA
scholarship and went through great lengths to make sure that happened.”

Current superintendent of human resources Nelson Briggs; current Principal Bernard Soete; buildings
manager Greg Miglino; and Sue Cipp, the head of the math department and daughter of Joe Cipp Jr.,
all either ordered or pressured clerical workers to boost Sloan’s grades, the report found.

Cipp Jr. and Briggs flatly denied any knowledge of the grade fixing after The Post broke the story in December.

One of Sloan’s math teachers, Colleen Rafferty, accuses Briggs and Sue Cipp of continually pressuring her to lift his grades. She refused.

“It is troubling that members of the administration . . . would meet with Mrs. Rafferty and attempt to impose
their will upon the teacher in an effort to get her to change the grade,” the report said.

The scandal came to light after administrators fired former Principal Kevin O’Connell after he refused
to buy into Bellport’s grade-fixing culture and he filed suit against them.

Cipp - who makes $262,000 as district superintendent - is an iconic figure in Long Island high school sports
after winning several state championships and sending dozens of players to Division 1 schools on scholarships.

But the report’s stunning findings could stain that image and of the district as a whole.

“These actions would make one question the members involved and whether they had lost their perspective,” the probe states.
“They are doing a disservice to the students and the educational system as a whole.”

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