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Three Houston Independent School District employees are among five people charged in connection with a scheme to help hundreds of people cheat on state teacher certification tests, Harris County prosecutors said Monday.

Prosecutors said Booker T. Washington High School boys basketball coach Vincent Grayson ran a scam ring in which people typically paid about $2,500 for help in fraudulently obtaining teaching licenses. As many as 400 people may have illegally obtained a 2020 Texas teacher certification through the scam, which netted the masterminds about $1 million, prosecutors said.

The scheme involved conspirators taking and administering tests on behalf of aspiring licensed teachers, prosecutors said. Investigators believe hundreds of participants are spread across the state, some possibly still in classrooms. The licenses likely helped school employees get promotions, earn higher salaries and keep their teaching jobs, prosecutors said.

“To me, the damage is not just to the education system, which is under great strain at the moment, but actually to the families of the children who go to those schools, who trust the government to educate their children and to- keep them safe for eight hours a day,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said during a news conference Monday.

Grayson did not immediately return a message or phone call from Houston Landing. His attorney, Cheryl Irvin, declined to comment, telling Landing they “know next to nothing yet” about the details of the indictment.

The arrests take place on the background of a the increase in the number of unaccredited teachers engaging in Texas public schools. Fewer people are entering the teaching profession through traditional college education programs. Licensed teachers must complete a bachelor’s degree, a Texas college education preparation program, and a state certification exam.

In a statement Monday, Texas Education Agency spokesman Jake Kobersky wrote that the department “will review any and all information shared by law enforcement and take appropriate action against any educator involved in this scheme.” The State Board for Educator Certification will decide on any punishment, Kobersky said.

The alleged co-conspirators

The other two HISD employees charged in the case are Washington High School Assistant Principal Nicholas Newton and Yates High School employee LaShonda Roberts. Prosecutors said Roberts is an assistant principal at Yates High, although district payroll records show he was working as a special education director on campus as of early September.

Prosecutors said Newton administered exams for aspiring licensed teachers, while Roberts “recruited and referred” about 90 teachers and collected about $267,000 in payments. Newton, who was paid more than $188,000 for his role as a tester, was “caught red-handed testing two teachers at once and gave a full confession,” prosecutors said.

Roberts and Newton did not have attorneys listed in court filings as of Monday afternoon.

The other two defendants are an employee of the Houston Training and Education Center and a test supervisor. The five defendants each face two criminal charges of engaging in organized criminal activity.

HISD became aware of the allegations “shortly” before the arrests and placed the three employees on paid leave Monday, HISD Communications Chief Alexandra Elizondo said. District leaders are “still learning information” related to the case, Elizondo said.

Grayson earns a salary of about $90,000 annually as Washington High’s track and field coach, according to district payroll records as of September. He amassed more than 200 wins in his 18-year tenure as the school’s boys basketball coach, The Leader. reported last year. Newton receives an annual salary of $129,000, while Roberts earns $92,000, according to September payroll records.

Elizondo said HISD does not yet know if any teachers in the district obtained their licenses fraudulently. HISD will work with law enforcement and the Texas Education Agency to identify any teachers involved in the cheating scandal and terminate their contracts, Elizondo said.

“The conduct in question is completely unacceptable and completely against every one of HISD’s values, what we believe about teacher certification,” Elizondo said.

“Suddenly they passed”

Prosecutors said their investigation began in mid-2023, when the Texas Education Agency received a tip about testing irregularities at the Houston Training and Education Center. State education officials and testing company Pearson noticed that applicants who had previously failed their teacher certification exams were driving from Dallas, Fort Worth and other faraway areas to take their tests in Houston.

“Then they would drive sometimes four or more hours to the Houston area and all of a sudden they were passing the tests with flying colors,” Michael Levine, chief of crimes in the public corruption division of the district attorney’s office, said Monday.

In court records, Levine described Grayson as the “mastermind and pawn” of the scheme. Levine wrote that Grayson identified Tywana Mason, an employee of the Houston Training and Education Center, as willing to take the bribe.

Prosecutors said aspiring licensed teachers would arrive, show ID, enter and leave. In the meantime, Newton will take the aspiring certified teacher exam, investigators said.

Prosecutors said teacher certification candidates typically pay $2,500 to Grayson, who would send about 20 percent to Mason to enable the cheating.

As part of the investigation, authorities received thousands of bank and phone records, Levine said. About 20 teachers gave “more or less complete confessions,” Levine wrote in court filings.

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