The William Fleming High School administrators who participated in the school's testing manipulations did so because they were afraid of retaliation from Principal Susan Willis, according to an unredacted copy of a state report obtained by The Roanoke Times.

The complete version of the report from the Virginia Department of Education gives a clearer picture of the events at the school this spring leading up to the state investigation. Previously released copies had blacked out names, making it difficult to confirm officials' level of involvement.

The unredacted copy identifies Assistant Principals William Downie and Michael Hill, as well as guidance coordinator Keith Smith and special education department chair Brenda Hairston as being involved in the scheme, along with Willis.

The report found that Willis and the four administrators changed course schedules for students with disabilities over the past two years to remove them from classes for which they would have to take the state-mandated Standards of Learning tests. The students remained in their original courses even though they were no longer officially enrolled in them.

Keeping those students out of the tests may have artificially boosted the school's pass rates. But state and federal regulations say that officials must get parental consent before making changes to the education of a student with disabilities. That did not happen in this case, according to the report. A total of 31 students had their schedules changed over the past two years, the report said.

Roanoke school officials have not commented on the investigation. They've also not talked about the employment status of Willis and the other four administrators. Willis has hired a Richmond law firm and a public relations firm to represent her. Her attorney, James Thorsen, did not return calls for comment. The four other administrators could not be reached Monday.

The school system has appointed Irving Jones, executive director for high schools, and Joseph Harris, an assistant principal at Patrick Henry High School, to oversee the transition into William Fleming's new $57 million building, which is set to open in the fall.

Willis' management style looms large in the report.

In an interview with state investigators, Downie, an eight-year veteran of the school, said he did not want to question Willis, noting that she had fired "2-3" assistant principals since she arrived at the school four years ago.

"I do what I have to do," he said, according to the report.

Smith, who has worked at Fleming for two years, told investigators that he "follows the directives" of Willis.

"I am a yes-no employee," he said.

An unidentified teacher interviewed by the state investigators said the staff works "in an atmosphere of fear and in jeopardy of career retaliation."

Teachers said officials had manipulated state testing in spring 2008 as well. They questioned the practice at the time, but "we didn't get anywhere."

The unidentified teacher who contacted state officials with her concerns this year said she did so because her contract had not been renewed and she "had nothing to lose," the report said.

After interviews and an examination of student records, the investigators found that a teacher had approached Hairston with concerns in 2008. Hairston said Willis wanted the schedules changed "to impact the school's pass rates."

Downie also said he was instructed by Willis last year to change course schedules for some students. Willis, however, told investigators she did not know of any schedule changes in 2008.

This spring, Hairston encouraged teachers to change courses for struggling students with disabilities up until the beginning of the testing period. The goal, according to the report, was to keep them out of the tests.

Also this spring, the two assistant principals, Hill and Downie, were directed by Willis to put together a list of students who were struggling in an algebra class and move them into another course, known as "Algebra 1-Part 1" that does not require an end-of-course SOL test. Had they stayed in their original algebra class, they would have had to take the test.

"This was a directive of the principal. To move them," Hill said in a statement quoted in the report.

According to the report, Hill identified the students whose schedules were to be changed, Downie then made the schedule changes on the school's computer system and Smith "removed the students from the testing session."

Once state and local school officials began investigating William Fleming, however, the affected students were placed back into their original algebra course. School records show them re-enrolled in algebra on May 19, the report says.