{"id":46898,"date":"2026-08-15T15:58:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T10:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=46898"},"modified":"2026-08-15T15:58:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T10:58:26","slug":"tennessee-teacher-samira-hardcastle-quits-after-accusing-school-of-directing-her-to-change-students-failing-grade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=46898","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee teacher Samira Hardcastle quits after accusing school of directing her to change student&#8217;s failing grade"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F08%2F137468237.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A Tennessee teacher who was named Teacher of the Year has quit after accusing the school district of directing her to change a failing student\u2019s grade.<\/p>\n<p>Samira Hardcastle, named the 2025-2026 Teacher of the Year at John F. Kennedy Middle School in Antioch, Tenn., submitted her letter of resignation in May after eight years teaching art in Metro Nashville Public Schools.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDistrict leaders asked me to fabricate grades for a parent who sat in the office for hours until her daughter\u2019s failing grades were changed,\u201d Hardcastle said in an impassioned speech at Tuesday\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/live\/3JpfAc8Qzp0?t=5248s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">school board meeting<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Nashville teacher Samira Hardcastle resigned after accusing the school district of telling her to change a failing student\u2019s grade. <span class=\"credit\">WSMV<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIt creates false entitlement. What happens when these kids lie, cheat and cry their way through school and end up as future doctors, police or politicians? When will you protect the future of our society?\u201d she demanded.<\/p>\n<p>Hardcastle accused the district of allowing that same parent, whom she said had harassed more than 30 teachers, to continue entering school property.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cTeachers have filed police reports and entire schools have had restraining orders against her,\u201d Hardcastle alleged. \u201cYet she is still allowed onto the property showing up to fill tricks her child didn\u2019t earn and filming other students. When will you stop prioritizing parents\u2019 feelings over the safety of our students?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The grade dispute began when Hardcastle gave the student a failing mark for not finishing an art project, which prompted the student\u2019s parent to intervene and administrators to tell Hardcastle to change the grade, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsmv.com\/2026\/08\/13\/2-former-metro-nashville-teachers-say-administrators-directed-them-change-failing-grades\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to WSMV4<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Hardcastle refused to do so, though the administrators changed it anyway, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cDistrict leaders asked me to fabricate grades for a parent who sat in the office for hours until her daughter\u2019s failing grades were changed,\u201d Hardcastle said. <span class=\"credit\">WSMV<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A Metro Nashville Public Schools spokesman said Hardcastle\u2019s claim \u201cdoes not fully reflect what occurred,\u201d adding that there was \u201cno written schoolwide policy at the time that prohibited the student from being given an opportunity to complete the work\u201d and that the student ultimately finished the project and received a grade.<\/p>\n<p>Hardcastle also raised concerns about teacher vacancies and payroll during her board meeting speech.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI heard you also mention that we\u2019re closing gaps in teacher vacancies. I want the public to know that many of those are filled with uncertified teachers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Hardcastle was named the 2025-2026 Teacher of the Year at John F. Kennedy Middle School. <span class=\"credit\">WSMV<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cHR withheld money from my paycheck and many others. They took $500 from me specifically and it put me behind on my mortgage. And then they sent out an email saying they had to do it to pay other employees. When will you pay teachers what they are owed?\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n<p>Before resigning, Hardcastle was disciplined for what the district called unprofessional communication with a parent and student.<\/p>\n<p>Diana Wills, a former math teacher at John Overton High School, also rejected directives to change failing grades, according to internal emails obtained by WSMV4.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>When Hardcastle refused to change the student\u2019s grade, district administrators reportedly changed it anyway. <span class=\"credit\">WSMV<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWhat is being done is unethical and could very well be interpreted as illegal,\u201d Wills wrote in one email.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Wills was told by administrators she had failed students without first notifying their parents, as required by district policy, according to the emails.<\/p>\n<p>Because of that, she was told to pass the students by giving them a D.<\/p>\n<p>Wills said one student had been given multiple opportunities to retake the exams but never followed through, and pointed out that she spent much of the semester on medical leave.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Nashville teacher Diana Wills also pushed back against district directives to change failing grades. <span class=\"credit\">WSMV<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cYou 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,\u201d Wills wrote in another email.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Wills is now suing the district over her suspension.<\/p>\n<p>Nashville Metro Schools said that Wills\u2019 case involved a difference of opinion over district policies and that the grade changes \u201cdid not meaningfully affect the student\u2019s final outcome in those courses.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Tennessee teacher who was named Teacher of the Year has quit after accusing the school district of directing her to change a failing student\u2019s grade. Samira Hardcastle, named the 2025-2026 Teacher of the Year at John F. Kennedy Middle School in Antioch, Tenn., submitted her letter of resignation in May after eight years teaching&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/137468237.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/46899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}