Principal accused of taking college placement test for student

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A Doniphan, Missouri, high school principal made his first appearance in court Tuesday morning on a charge he forged a former student's college placement test.

Accompanied by his attorney, Sam Spain, Ronald W. McCutchen appeared before Associate Circuit Judge Thomas Swindle for arraignment on felony forgery.

The complaint against McCutchen, 53, alleges he faxed COMPASS test results for a former student to Three Rivers College on July 17 with intent to defraud.

The charge stems from an investigation by the Doniphan Police Department that began Oct. 1, the same day McCutchen was placed on paid administrative leave.

McCutchen, according to earlier reports, was placed on leave pending the outcome of an investigation after allegations were raised about improper text messaging with a former Doniphan student. The allegations reportedly came to light when a current student spoke with a teacher Sept. 30.

As the investigation progressed, Doniphan School resource officer Rick Plunk reportedly received information indicating McCutchen may have taken the COMPASS test for a former student during the summer.

COMPASS, which stands for Computer Adaptive Placement Assessment and Support System, is a college placement test similar to the ACT. It reportedly is designed to assess a student's math, English and reading skills.

Plunk, according to his probable-cause statement, began checking records pertaining to the former student's COMPASS test.

The former student, he said, was found to have taken the test in April.

Plunk said he contacted a school counselor to see whether there was a way to check the dates the COMPASS test was taken.

Plunk subsequently contacted another staff member, who remembered "McCutchen speaking with her about a COMPASS test, and she asked if he needed her to come in, and he told her he could take care of it."

The woman, Plunk said, reported giving McCutchen her login information for the COMPASS testing website.

"When we checked the website, we saw where [the former student] was shown to have taken the COMPASS test on July 16," Plunk said. There reportedly had not been any COMPASS testing set up during the summer.

"The test results for this COMPASS test were never imported to the school records for [the student], but they had been forwarded to Three Rivers College via fax," Plunk said.

Based on the information about the testing, Plunk said, he met again with the former student.

When the former student was asked about taking the COMPASS test, Plunk said, he said the test had been taken in April.

"[The former student] told me that he didn't take the July test," Plunk said. "[He] then told me that McCutchen had taken the test for him in July because he asked him to.

" ... [He] told me later he asked McCutchen to take the test for him so he could get a better score."

Plunk said the former student also reported being at TRC when he allegedly got a text message from McCutchen "saying he had his new test scores.

"(He) said he was told by his adviser at Three Rivers he could return later, and they would have his new scores."

The scores allegedly were sent to TRC, and the former student was "given a scholarship based on those scores," Plunk said. "[He] said he felt guilty about this so he never went back to Three Rivers."

In October, Plunk said he contacted a member of the school's IT department about checking the hard drive of a computer to "see what McCutchen did when he was on the computer" July 16, the date the COMPASS test allegedly was taken.

School officials, Plunk said, identified the computer McCutchen allegedly used.

The IT member, Plunk said, provided him with the date and times when McCutchen allegedly was logged on to the computer using his user name and password.

The provided printouts, Plunk said, "showed McCutchen as logging in to the COMPASS testing website, and a COMPASS test was taken."

When the information was cross referenced with the COMPASS website, it showed the test was allegedly taken in the name of the former student, Plunk said.

"The testing times on the COMPASS website matched the times McCutchen was logged on the computer in the high school library," Plunk said. "It then showed McCutchen logged off at the same time the COMPASS website showed the completion of the test."

Plunk said he also found where McCutchen allegedly logged back on a library computer July 17 and printed the COMPASS test results for the former student.

An administrative assistant, Plunk said, remembered McCutchen allegedly faxing the test results.

" ... [She] told me she thought it was odd that McCutchen was doing this because this was part of her job responsibilities ..." Plunk said.

At the time he was placed on leave, McCutchen had been with the district for six years, according to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.