Wickersham administrators may lose state certification

The Pennsylvania Department of Education confirmed to NewsLanc that two investigations of alleged cheating at School District of Lancaster are currently ongoing.

"A PSSA security breach is certainly a lot more than a personnel issue. It can be grounds for suspension of an education certificate," said Michael Race, assistant press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

"The department has in the past taken certification action against educators who have violated the test procedures," Race confirmed. "In some cases, that has meant suspension of certification. Obviously, a certification action would be a personnel issue in the sense it could impact the employment status of school personnel. If you lose your certification, you can't teach."

Each spring, as part of the federal No Child Left Behind act, local students take the PSSA (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment) tests.

In a press release issued Wednesday, May 29, SDL confirmed that the alleged cheating involved their personnel, and not student cheating.