Two former Metro Nashville Public Schools teachers say district administrators directed them to change failing grades for students, according to internal emails and documents obtained by WSMV4 Investigates.
Samira Hardcastle, who was named the 2025-2026 Teacher of the Year at John F. Kennedy Middle School, resigned in May after eight years of teaching art in Metro Schools. In her resignation letter, she cited grade fabrication at the direction of district administrators as one of the reasons for leaving.
“And they just want me to shut up and go along with the game that they’re playing,” Hardcastle said. “And I’m not.”
Hardcastle said she believes administrators pushed grade changes for one reason.
“It makes our scores look better,” she said. “I mean, as a district, it makes things look better.”
Hardcastle said a student failed to complete an art project, so she gave the student a failing grade. She said the student’s parent then intervened, and the dispute reached the district level, where three administrators met with the parent. Administrators determined Hardcastle had not provided a proper rubric for the assignment.
“So they all came to the conclusion that I had to change her grade,” Hardcastle said. “I did not change her grade. They did. I refused.”
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Second teacher raises similar concerns
Emails obtained by WSMV4 Investigates show former John Overton High School math teacher Diana Wills also disputed orders to change failing grades. In one email, Wills wrote, “What is being done is unethical and could very well be interpreted as illegal.”
The emails show administrators told Wills she had failed students without alerting their parents to their failing grades, as required by district policy, and that because of it she needed to pass the students by giving them a D.
Wills pushed back, writing that one student was told many times to make up exams and never did. She also noted she was on medical leave for much of one semester. In another email, she wrote, “You are latching onto a very vague line in the policy so you can cook the books to have the data look the way you need it to.” (Read more: WSMV4.com, 8/13/2026) (Archive)