In its first public acknowledgment that grades likely were altered at Brimm, possibly for years, the school board in November filed charges with the state against Clayton that could lead to his firing.

The district alleged that Clayton made 200 fraudulent grade changes from 2002 to 2004, and kept two sets of grade books - a true set for report cards and one doctored for college transcripts.

The alleged grade changing appears to have affected records as far back as 1998-99, the freshman year for the Class of 2002, documents suggest.

Clayton, suspended without pay, "vigorously denies" any wrongdoing, his attorney, Keith Waldman, said. Clayton did not return a telephone message.

In 2004-05, Brimm was among the top-performing schools in the region, when 92 percent of its 11th graders were proficient in math on the state's High School Proficiency Assessment.

After the state sent monitors to oversee testing last spring, 75 percent scored proficient, a drop of 17 percentage points.

The Camden County prosecutor has investigated the alleged grade fixing and Carruth's allegations but has taken no action and made no comments.

Smith, Veggian's attorney, said he believed she would be fully vindicated in her pending federal lawsuit seeking unspecified damages. A judge last year dismissed the whistle-blower count, leaving two counts alleging that her due process and civil rights were violated.

"The board needs to be taught a lesson. They succeeded in making her life very difficult," Smith said.

Despite all that she has endured, Veggian said she had no regrets about coming forward.

"I was trying to do right for the children. The children are the reason we are all here."

For previous coverage of the controversy over test scores in the Camden schools, go to http://go.philly.com/camdenscores