"fox5" alindsay watts it live in northwest with more. lindsay, you sound like a miracle that nobody was killed here sgle that's right, lauren, some people even had to jump out of their windows to escape the flames. others were rescued by firefighters. >> this all happening around 3:00 in the morning and you can see just how badly damaged and we'll show you video now taken by d.c. fire. mayor said today it is a testament to fast work by first responders that were only talking about property damage. and not loss of life. >> and 55 aparts were destroyed and everybody is out of the butting even those who live on lower levels. and red cross is now helping those 200 people out of their homes tonight. lindsay watts, "fox5 local news". >> thank you lindsey frantic search underway in district for missing mother and baby daughter. take a look at them. police say 25-year-old michelle manly and 21-month-old daisy were last seen on june 15 they were just reported missing however today. they were last seen in the 1 1400 block of hole brook street in northeast

lindsay watts broke the story and is following up for us tonight. lindsay. >>reporter: shawn and tony top brass in prince george's county say that report absolves them that it is now case closed. however, there are questions about how the investigation was conducted, who was interviewed question now, will there be another investigation by the state with new evidence and whistleblowers coming to light? fighting back against corruption claims, prince george's county schools gave us this report. it says a year ago the us department of education got a whistleblower tip alleging the ceo of schools was forcing educators to change grades to boost the graduation rate. in december, a representative from the maryland state department of ed was sent to investigate. she met with ceo. q. kevin maxwell and says she asked h i am to identify others with whom she could talk to. in january she spent several hours interviewing maxwell and four others he brought in. none of them recalled any complaints that grades had been changed. the investigator says she found no wrongdoing

fox5's lindsay watts broke the story for us. she jiens us lie in baltimore where the state board of education met this afternoon. lindsay, what did they have to say. >>reporter: sarah, this is definitely big news from here in baltimore. it was a unanimous vote today to bring in outside, independent investigators to get to the bottom of what's been alleged in prince george's county schools. just today school ceo dr. kevin maxwell joined the calls for an investigation into his school system. it'she has asked for that. his letter to the board was read before the vote. this letter is to serve as a request for a followup investigation by the maryland state department of education into allegations regarding the prince george's county public schools, high school graduation rates since my arrival. and that was just part of the letter . maxwell went onto say that he denies that he or anybody working for him is promoting students in order to inflate the graduation rate. four prince george's county brothered members contacted the governor s

lindsay watts has this fox5 exclusive. lined shawn and toy when staff members are put on leave because of abuse allegations they still get paid that's required bylaw and not to evenings mention the majority of employees accused of abuse have been cleared. employees off the job and have been paid have been paid nearly $10 million this year. for staff members under suspicion and placed on leave it's far from a paid vacation. it's hard for us, for me, very hard. >> bus driver ja ja what tara has been on leave since february. >> the gicial say i curse at her. did you curse at >> no. >> while employees accused of abuse are sent home, this is what happens to bus drivers in that situation, they have to report to work but they're in the allow to drive. they pass the time playing cards and watching tv. it's like i'm in jail. >> another driver who didn't want to be identified says she doesn't even know why she's on leef. i don't know why i'm sitting there. it makes you feel like you're not trusted. it makes you feel like you could l

our own lindsay watts was the first to report she has the latest tonight from baltimore. it was a unanimous vote here today to higher outside independent investigator s to look into to what has been alleged in prince george's county. just today school ceo dr. kevin maxwell joined the calls for an investigation into this. it's the first time he's done this. his letter was red before the votes. this letter is to serve as a formal request for a follow up investigation by the maryland state department of education into allegations regarding the prince george's county county public schools, high school graduation rates since my arrival. >> in his h letter, maxwell continued to deny that he or anybody working for him has promoted students in order to inflate the graduation rate. four prince george's county school board members contacted the governor saying they have evidence that in the last few years hundreds of students have graduated without meeting state requirements. they cl widespread systemic corruption. what they wanted was an investigation like this one and today they

from teachers and staff who claim they were told to push students through no matter what fox5's lindsay watts broke this story tonight and joins us with more. >> the prince george's county schools ceo says the board members claims in their letter politically motivated. since our story aired last night other board members have written their own letter completely dismissing the claims of fraud. meanwhile teachers and parents we spoke to say there is a real problem in the school system and they want it exposed. the record high numbers have been reason to celebrate in prince george's county. music, pom-poms and party buses earlier this year as school's ceo dr. kevin maxwell made surprise stops at high schools with graduation rates over 90 percent. when max maxwell came up to our school with an entourage to celebrate our high graduation rates we all held with laughter because we knew tha fraudulent. >> most of the counselors laugh at it because we know that it's not real. >> the teachers and guidance counselor we spoke to wanted their identities concealed for fear of retaliation. they work at diff

fox5's lindsay watts was first to report on the allegations of fraud made by four board members. she's live in upper marlboro with the lat est. don't any, the school board meeting here finished about an hour ago now, but from what we're told school ceo dr. kevin maxwell is still inside his building. his car is still in the parking lot. hay knots come out yet and he continues to refuse to speak with us despite our repeated requests for an interview. these allegations have divided county leaders and school employees with zoo some saying the state needs to come in and investigate. others say there is no possibility of this alleged fraud. ed quait, then graduate. educate then graduate . a rally before the school board meeting included teachers, activists and parents my daughter graduated sitting on distinguished row and had to take remedial classes for a year. there's something wrong with this picture. these are supporters of the four board members who contacted the state allegedly that widespread corruption allow hundreds of students to graduate without meeting state requirements. s

live tonight, lindsay watts, fox5 local news. >> there is new reaction tonight from the family of a 17 year old muslim girl murdered in fairfax county. the family of nabra has in held a press conference in reston to address the latest de tails in the death investigation. today we learned that nabra was assault salted not once, but twice and detectives are now looking into whether they may have been sexually assault brd she was murdered. her accused killer was 22 year old dar within martinez torres. easies saying that he wants the community to express love always to one another regardless of religion than, ethnicity or race. he doesn't want any other family to suffer of losing the loved one. he wanted to make sure that we didn't have this senseless crime committed against young people. he said he doesn't wish this to happen to anyone. he wants this to be prevented from happening to any other family. >> the gentleman you saw on the right there is nabra's father. police say as of now they are not investigating nabra's murder as a hate crime. the family say s they are confident in how poli

fox5's lindsay watts joins us now with the very latest on what this means and also what's next. >> shawn, this is definitely a big deal. a state school official told me he's in the aware of any investigation like this that's happened before in the state of maryland. today the state woard board of education voted unanimous to higher third-party investigators to find out what's really going on here. all in favor eye. any opposed or object extensionses. >> very good. >> across the board agreement that an impartial investigation is needed in prince george's county schools. just before the vote we found out school ceo dr. kevin maxwell had joined the calls for an investigation writing a letter to the state superintendent. this letter is to serve as a formal request for a followup investigation by the maryland state department education into allegations regarding the prince george's county public schools, high school graduation rates since my arrival. maxwell continues to deny the allegations brought forward by four school board members. they say they have evidence hundreds of students have gr

fox5's lindsay watts with more. >>reporter: capital pride wrapped up just about an hour ago, but crews are already shutting everything down out here. it's been a great weekend. i was speaking with a police officer a short time ago he sayses that he hadn't heard of any arrests today and no major problems. what w were a lot of people having a great time. people got to see a free show featuring miley sigh rest and pop star na ta gnash a here's a listen. miley didn't go on until about 8:00 tonight and some who wanted to see her had been outside all day long. you can see people were parked r packed together up by the stage and i don't have to tell you it was hot out here. you would think that maybe d.c. fire would have their hands full with heat-related calls, but i did check with the department. they say they didn't have anything out of the ordinary when it came to heat sickness. those we did speak to didn't even complain about the weather. a few took the opportunity to shed some clothes. it wasn't too muggy today so it

but for now, the department is refusing comment. >> that was lindsay watts reporting.omorrow. a group of high school principals within the county have released a statement saying "accusations of fraud are in insulting to those who dedicated themselves to educating students. prince george's ceo kevin maxwell continues to deny our request for interview. we were hoping to speak with governor larry hogan. easily out of the country but we would like to speak to him when he returns much that's the very latest on that disturbing story. if these allegations are true that they were pushing people on through to get these state -- state scores up to different level. >> you would at least want to see it investigated. >> you want to see it look into. there has to be something there. all of these people don't come up with the same story. it's not few claims. like you said at least warrants questions being asked which they are. >> not saying we look into the past and didn't find anything. take look again. >> may need to look again. >> make sure sure you cross everything. >> 9:18 comi

fox5 a's lindsay watts has been working on this and it is a story that you will only see on fox5.ed this letter that four board members sent to governor larry hogan. it makes some extremely seriously claims saying students ' grades and credit accounts are being manipulated to fraudlily boost the graduation rate in prince george's county. they have clear and convincing evidence that students who did not meet state requirements. the letter is signed by edward bureaus disaifd \heel\heally and student member gentleman want blocker. they told the gorchor say they believe it goes since the highest level of the school system and it has been happening since 2014 soon after. q. maxwell has made it ceo of schools. maxwell had made it a top priority to boost the high school rate. it looked like a success story with record numbers announced earlier this year. we reached out to larry hogan's office and a spokesperson tells us this. i can confirm that the governor's office are in receipt of this letter. they are very forward ing and they have been forwarded to the maryland state department of e

lindsay watt was first to report on allegations of fraud made by four board members. live in upper marboro with the latest, lindsay. >> the board meeting is just now finishing up. dr. maxwell is refusing to come talk to us. we have made it clear we are ready and waiting for him to apps our questions. and the allegations here have divided countsy leaders and school employees with some begging the state to come in and investigate this and others denying that there's any possibility of fraud. >>> educate and graduate, educate then graduate. >> a rally before the school board meeting included teachers. activists and parents. >> my daughter graduated with a 3.7 sitting on distinguished row and had to take remedial classes for a year. there's something wrong with this picture. >> these are supporters. the four board members that contacted the state aling that widespread corruption allowed hundreds of students to graduate without meeting state requirements. >> since we've made those allegations there's not a day we don't get additional people coming forward. >> group, went in

fox5's lindsay watts broke the story and joins you now with some new information tonht county ceo says the board's members claims in their letter are politically motivated. since our story aired last night other board members have written their other letter, completely dismissing the claims of fraud. meanwhile teachers and parents we spoke to say there is a real problem in the school system and they want it exposed. the record high numbers have been reason to celebrate in prince george's county. music, pom-pom s and party buses earlier this year as school ceo dr. kevin maxwell made surprise stops t at high schools with graduation rates over 90 percent . when maxwell came up to our school with an entourage to celebrate our high graduation rates we all held with laughter because we knew that they were completely fraudulent. most of the counselors laugh at it because we know that it's not teachers and guidance counselor we spoke to wanted their identities concealed for fear of retaliation. they work at different high schools, but tell the same story. they're banking everything on graduati

we're live in dupont circle, lindsay watts fox 5 local news. >>> police are warning people about a so-calledg exam >> how you can keep from becoming a victim >> the take away share any personal information to anyone soliciting overthe phone, as technology evolves, crooks, some of their techniques to steal social security and bank account numbers and personal information including pass words and also to your accounts. capitol heights police say its investigating several incident where is offenders reportedly spoofed police phone numbers to trick people. caller id spoofing allows a caller to pretend they're someone else. now, the internet and ap stores are filled with caller id, the fraudulent activities includes offender for people to seat belt fake warrant, pay a fine, they requested several payme wire funds, coins and gift cards. here's most important, at no time would any capitol police employee request money over the phone. if you receive a call and suspect the caller id information was a frustrated, file a complaint online with the federal communication commissions. the most important th

fox5's lindsay watts joins us more on what h this means and also what's next. shawn, this is a big deal. a state school official told me today that he is not aware of any investigation like this that's happened before in the state of maryland. today the state board of education voted unanimously to higher third-party investigators to find out what's really happening. all in favor iefer. any opposed or object tensions. >> very good. the board agreement that an impartial investigation is needed in prince george's county schools. just before the vote, we found out school ceo dr. kevin maxwell had joined the calls for an investigation writing a letter to the state superintendent. this letter is to serve as a formal request for a followup investigation by the maryland state department of education into allegations regarding the prince george's county county public schools high school graduation rates since my arrival. maxwell continues to deny the allegations brought forward by four school board member. they say they have evidence hundreds ever students have graduat

fox5's lindsay watts broke the story a week ago . so much has mopped in the last week. just today govern ofer hogan wrote this letter to the president of the state board of education. he says he is deeply disturbed by the allegations and he's requesting immediate steps to complete investigation into these allegations. this comes one week after we broke the story that four prince george's county school board members wrote governor hoag than saying they have evidence that hundreds of students have graduated in the last few years state requirements. fox5 has spoken to whistleblowers, to teachers and others staff who say there's tremendous pressure from the central office to boost the graduation rate and that they personally know that grades are being changed and some students pushed through regard less of whether they did the work or came to class. ceo of schools. q. kevin maxwell has denied this saying the allegations are not only false, but a personal attack on all school employees. he said the school board members are playing politics. the govern ofer also wrote a lette

. >> i'm lindsay watts in for matt. first tonight we begin with the capitol pride block party businesses and restaurants are decked out for gay pride weekend. our kristin leone live from the parade route in northwest with more, how is it looking out there, kristin >> good evening, ladies, bear with me, i is an awesome -- (cheers). >> celebrating love, some people up here dancing, show them off, men. gentlemen, right over here. >> hi, so, introducing me, joining me now, omar? >> yes. >> and dave, yes. >> nice, thank you so much. >> yes. >> what does it mean to be here? you are from dallas? >> from dallas, right. it is real important. i think in me lifetime at least probably one of the most relevant times to be here, so we're excited to be here and celebrate pride. >> dave, what about you? >> same thing, i mean, environment of divisiveness, uncertain any our country right now, ac part of this type of end is vier onment, so inclusive, so loving, so important, so special. >> so is this your first pride here in d.c.? >> yes,

lindsay watts has this fox5 exclusive. and toy when staff members are put on leave because of abuse allegations they still get paid that's required bylaw and not to evenings mention the majority of employees accused of abuse have been cleared. employees off the job and have been paid have been paid nearly $10 million this year. for staff members under suspicion and placed on leave it's far fro

lindsay watts joining us at the concert. lined sir, it's got to be happening there at this point.eporter: it is. a lot of people on the here. it is blazing hot. the heat has not kept the crowd away. we'll give you a closer look at the stage. the concert out here has been going on for several hours. but we are all still waiting for the headliner mily cyrus. according to the lineup she should be coming on sometime between now and 8:00. that anyway shai is going to be performing. if you're a fan of pop music her name should be familiar to you. you may with this extreme heat and this huge crowd that d.c. fire might be busy with heat-related calls. i just checked intoit and they say they have not had any more calls for heat sickness. everybody out here are taking gwen's advice, drinking plenty of water, staying in the shade and taking care of themselves. that's great news. the concert is going on until 10:00 tonight, so still plenty of time to get out of here. a lot of folks seeking shelter. i was talking with the photographer who was at the county march. and he was seeing that you can

fox5's lindsay watts was the first break the grade fixing story ten days ago and we have continued tod the way on coverage of this issue and the request for answers ever since then. we'll do that right now seeking to get more answers because for the first time since the allegations arose prince george's county public school superintendent dr. kein maxwell is granting fox5 an interview and joins us this morning. good morning. thanks for joining us. >> good morning. thanks for having me. >> a loft questions for you this morning but i want to start point blank do you believe in any way there was any concerted effort for great fixing o inflation in prince george's county schools. >> absolutely not. these accusations they're systemic corruption at the highest levels of this school system are completely and utterly false. >> the reason you've gone on board is the investigation is what? >> to make sure we put this to rest once and for all. these allegations were first alleged about a year ago earlier in the school year, and we're state department of education, and both msd and the united sta

grate grade fixing at some prince george's county high schools to boo >> our investigation by lindsay wattses who were asked to pass failing students and more. in theory, legitimate whistleblowers are protected from retaliation. that's in theory. what be in real life? are these employees safe in their jobs. >> join carlos sanchez a democrat representing prince george's county and co sponsor of a bill to pro inspect public school employees who blow the whistle. >> in theory they're supposed to be protected but are they really? >> we're not going to go until this bill goes sneak on october 1st of this year. i do want to commend my colleague jimmy tar low who up tow due this bill this past session we're really trying to do create an environment where our public school employees feel safe reporting these. if you look there's three different segments to this bill. it's about one, just coming out and saying something is going on it's also allows them to go to court and testify. on top of that it also provides do somethig that they don't think is right. they can say no and not have to have fear or

. >> our lindsay watts spoke with numerous teachers and counselors who say they have been told to pushthrough whether they earned their grades or not. >> reporter: the teachers and guidance counselor we spoke to wanted their department at thes concealed for fear of retaliation. they work at different high schools, but tell the same st story. >> they're banging everything on, um, graduation rates and things of that nature. so there's incredible pressure coming from the central office on to all of the principals at all the schools to push kids through whether they've really earn the credits or not. >> it comes down from the county that comes down to the preps that come down to the staff. what are you going to do to make sure they pass rather than what are you going to do to make sure they learn rt report boosting the graduation rate has been a top priority for dr. maxwell. prince george's county had been lagging behind the state average before making major gains and plenty of headlines and there's a stelle celebration going on in prince george's county. >> rolling celebration across prin

some of the examples teachers, counselors and parents shared with our lindsay watts include not giving instead of failing grades become e's or policy changes on the books that give at least 50% on assignments were effort but not necessarily correct work is shown. so is it cheating or a lowering of the standards that's become common practice? we'll talk about this morning with dr. joshua star former student of montgomery county schools. now ceo. pdk international. thanks for coming in. >> thanks for having me. on the surface what do you make of this in a broad manner? >> so look, we have been looking at the issue ofig standards ever since ted visor word compromise their years ago a question how we get kids get across the stage and give them a second chance. i think frankly from what i'm reading about what's going in prince george's county right now, we have to look at the political issues and how that may be motivating some of the accusations and the potential investigation that will happen. >> is in general scale and if we separate prince george's for a second here and just talk about

it was one week ago that our lindsay watts of course was first to report the claims of grade fixing athose prince george's county high schools. >> now maryland's gov more hogan is involved and in taking new action melanie weren't like live in prnce george's with the latest information. mel? >> reporter: good morning. you may recall that governor hogan was out of the country last week when all of this was boiling over. he returned, took a look at some of those claims and requests given to them and indeed sent two letters out last night one to the maryland department of education requesting a complete thorough and exhaustive investigation. the other a response to the board members who brought this matter to his attention. reiterating the state's protection for whistleblowers. meanwhile, the school ceo a group of principles and majority of board members have called the accusations insulting and disparaging. three elected board members and the student member contacted hogan alleging that counselors and teachers were pressured to give passing grades to students who hadn't earned them it is

fox5 reporter lindsay watts and photojournalist ben applegate broke the story here's a look what they'vek we're doing an injustice to the student allowing them to graduate, um, when they know they didn't put in the evident. >> the staff knows exactly it's widespread. it's not just a handful of teachers. >> it's what are you going to do to make sure they pass, rather than what are you going to do to make sure they learn. >> some of our colleagues decided to go out -- so far outfield of our system and make some pretty outrageous allegations without going through the process. we trust and believe in our students and our staff. >> we would not make such allegations if there were not significant proof. >> are you asked for the evidence they referenced? >> we have not asked them for any evidence. >> we are finally seeing the fruits of our labor. some want to question or cast doubt on our students accomplishments. >> when we lower the bar for some of our students, we lower the bar for all of our students. >> there's incredible pressure coming from the central office on to all of the principals

fox5's lindsay watts op obtained a lte members sent to maryland governor larry hogan. >> the letter makesous claims saying students grades and credit accounts are being manipulate to do fraudulently boost the graduation rate in prince george's county. letter goes on to say, that whistleblowers at almost every level of the school system have quote clear and convincing evidence that prince george's county public schools have graduated hundreds of students who did not meet state graduation requirements. the letter signed by board members edward burroughs, david murray, rah heel la ahmed and joanne belong kerr they tell the governor they believe this goes to the highest level of the school system say it's been happening since present 14. soon after dr. kevin maxwell was appointed as ceo of the schools. maxwell made it top priority to beef the county graduation rate lagging behind the state average it looked like a success story with record numbers ann announcd earlier this year. spokeswoman told us this. i can confirm the governor's office is in receipt of concerning, and they have been forwa

fox5's lindsay watts first broke the story and has this very latest as questions remain about whether will be another state investigation. >> reporter: fighting back against corruption claims, prince george's county schools gave us this report. it says a year ago, the u.s. department of education got a whistleblower tip alleging the ceo of educators to change grades to boost the graduation rate. in decembe, a representative from the maryland state department of ed was sent to investigate. she met with ceo dr. kevin maxwell and says she asked him to identify others with whom she could talk to. in january, she spent several hours interviewing maxwell and four others he brought in. 91 of them were called any complaints that grades had been changed. the investigator found no wrongdoing and the case was closed. >> i think that prior investigation makes it worse. the superintendent did not notify the board we were under investigation for something so serious. >> reporter: david murray one of four board members calling for the state to come back and investigate new claims of fraud and manipu

watt. >> reporter: rachel lindsay is the oldest bachelorette ever. >> i am.ld in this world. >> reporter: practicing lawyer. smart. together. >> i actually didn't say yes at all at first. i really wanted to think about it. for you to have multiple relationships with multiple men in such a public way. >> yeah, it's weird. >> yeah. it's not normal. i'll give you that. it is weird. >> i still don't understand why she did the show in the first place. i don't. i mean -- >> because she has everything in life except the love of her life. and that's where we come in. [ laughter ] damn you skeptic, nick watt. >> reporter: she was revealed as the bachelorette while she was still vying for nick viall's attention -- >> will you accept this rose? >> reporter: -- on the last cycle of "the bachelor." and "the bachelorette" started during the "after the final rose" of "the bachelor." >> fellas, come on out. >> reporter: and yes, rachel is the first african-american bachelor or bachelorette in this the 34th cycle of the shows. >> there's absolutely pressure. being the first.

watt. >> reporter: rachel lindsay is the oldest bachelorette ever. >> i am.t say yes at all at first. i really wanted to think about it. for you to have multiple relationships with multiple men in such a public way. >> yeah, it's weird. >> yeah. it's not normal. i'll give you that. it is weird. >> i still don't understand why she did the show in the first place. i don't. i mean -- >> because she has everything in life except the love of her life. and that's where we come in. [ laughter ] damn you skeptic, nick watt. >> reporter: she was revealed as the bachelorette while she was still vying for nick viall's attention -- >> will you accept this rose? >> reporter: -- on the last cycle of "the bachelor." and "the bachelorette" started during the "after the final rose" of "the bachelor." >> fellas, come on out. >> reporter: and yes, rachel is the first african-american bachelor or bachelorette in this the 34th cycle of the shows. >> there's absolutely pressure. being the first. i mean, that was part of my hesitation in saying yes to being the bachelorette. >> it'