School board chairman accused of cheating to get his GED

(AP) — The chairman of a Kentucky school board, who dropped out of high school at 17, hoped to settle the controversy raging around whether a diploma he bought online was real.

The issue erupted last month, when the Mountain Advocate, the newspaper in Barbourville, Kentucky, reported that Nation High School, the online school listed on Smith's diploma, is a "diploma mill," unaccredited and described by the Better Business Bureau as a scam.

The Kentucky Department of Education requires that school board members, who receive a per diem of $75 and expenses for each meeting, have a high school diploma or a GED.

The Kentucky Office of Education Accountability found that Smith, another board member and the superintendent violated the law by meddling in the day-to-day operation of schools.

The state police found surveillance video showing him talking with the employee, then leaving, and the employee taking the test in his name instead, Jacobs said.