'Ghost Student' scandal hits Baltimore city schools

A school already under investigation for grading irregularities is facing new accusations. Documents just obtained by Project Baltimore show, Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts in west Baltimore appears to have had ghost students on the roll. Those are students you’re paying to educate, who aren’t attending school, and in some cases haven’t been for years.

Augusta Fells is a school in turmoil. In summer 2019, its principal and assistant principal were placed on administrative leave as City Schools launched an internal investigation into staff misconduct and grading irregularities.

Project Baltimore spoke with former Augusta Fells families. We obtained transcripts showing students at the school were failing classes, or not even showing up, and still being promoted to the next course level.

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Now, Fox45 News has obtained a document, from October 2019, which contains the names of 21 seniors at Augusta Fells. Sources tell us the school compiled the list of students who, while enrolled on paper, were not physically attending class and some hadn’t for years. They’re known by educators as ghost students.

In Maryland, schools receive funding per student. The more students enrolled, the more money the school gets. City Schools receives nearly $16,000 per student, every year. So, the question is, did North Avenue get taxpayer money to educate 21 students who were on the rolls of Augusta Fells, but were not actually attending the school? That would come out to $331,653 of taxpayer money to educate students who weren’t there.