Sara Glashagel, a special education teacher at Antioch Community High School accused of improperly inflating grades for football players and other students, resigned Wednesday, School District 117 officials said.
Co-Superintendent Mike Nekritz, who said he would have sought her firing had she not quit, said Glashagel did not explain her alleged action in her letter of resignation. He said that from the district's perspective, the matter was concluded.
"As far as we're concerned, the information was clear," he said. "All evidence from the police and through our investigation says it was one employee acting alone." Glashagel, 27, of Elk Grove Village, is the wife of Antioch's head football coach, Brian Glashagel, who told authorities he didn't know about the alleged grade-tampering, police said. His wife has been charged with tampering with computer records, a misdemeanor. She is due in court Dec. 9.
Authorities say that in mid-September, Sara Glashagel used an administrative password to change grades electronically for 64 students, 41 of whom were football players. District policy says that athletes whose grade-point averages are below 1.5 cannot compete, but Nekritz said no varsity player was on the ineligible list at that time.
School officials and police tracked down Glashagel, who was in her fifth year with the district, after a teacher discovered a grade change she didn't think she had made. District officials determined that numerous alterations had been made via an outside computer, and a subpoena of the person behind that computer's IP address led to Glashagel.
He added that Glashagel's resignation did not affect the status of her husband. Nekritz said the data trail examined by the district produced the same conclusion.
