SAVANNAH, Ga. --- Southwest Middle School Principal Tangela Madge was removed from her position last week after auditors found evidence of grade tampering and other questionable management practices.

"Dr. Madge is no longer there," Bucky Burnsed, Savannah-Chatham County school system spokesman, said this week. "She is still employed with the district, but she has been temporarily reassigned."

Burnsed did not elaborate on that reassignment. Madge has been replaced at Southwest Middle by Ola Lewis, a former principal who had been working in the district office.

Problems at Southwest Middle came to light after an exodus of teachers prompted the school system's internal auditors to move the school to the top of their audit priority list.

Southwest has a 34 percent turnover rate, the highest in the district. Central office administrators use the random audits of their schools, programs and administrative divisions to ensure the system is as efficient, effective and equitable as possible.

Once inside the school, auditors discovered more than just unhappy teachers.

In interviews this summer, Southwest Middle teachers and staff members told auditors their principal was asking them to change students' grades.

The audit team checked files and found 11 failing grades that appeared on student report cards, but were changed to passing grades in the school computer. The district's guidelines for grade changes had not been followed.

As they were investigating, someone tried to go back into the school computer system and undo those changes.

When auditors confronted Madge, she reportedly told them the summer school lead teacher asked her to intervene for several students who demonstrated a mastery of their course content but earned failing grades.

The summer school lead teacher told auditors a different story.

She said she had never had any conversations about grade changes until Madge called to say the school was being audited and they wanted her statement.

"As you requested, here is my statement," she wrote. "I do not change grades. I know that only the teacher that gave the grade can change it. I would not want anyone to change a grade that I had given. I am only the summer school lead teacher and my only job is to coordinate the summer school program."

The auditors asked district officials to determine whether the incident should be reported to the state Professional Standards Commission.

"The Professional Standards Commission gets involved because it would be intimidation if the principal forced this," academic auditor Ginger Masingill said. "And we want to avoid promoting students without giving them the proper foundation."

Madge responded by saying it must be the result of a misunderstanding.

"Although I expect a student to do his or her best, I have never asked, coerced or intimidated any teacher to change grades," she wrote.

There were also staff reports that the principal directed a staff member to alter student disciplinary records.