An outside tribunal is recommending four Dougherty County teachers be suspended for 60 days without pay.

These are the first cases to be considered since a cheating scandal was uncovered at the southwest Georgia school district last December.

Tommy Coleman, attorney for the school board, says they are accused of coaching students through the test.

“Perhaps telling Johnny or Sarah that they need to look at number three. And not giving answers or that kind of thing, but simply using something that they would normally use perhaps in an ordinary classroom environment by inflections of your voices or facial expressions.”

The school board will make the final decision on the tribunal's recommendation.

Coleman says those accused of more serious behavior have resigned or retired so they are no longer with the school system.

Coleman says the district attorney is still considering whether to file any criminal charges.

And the state professional standards commission will review all 49 cases to determine if any of those accused should lose their teaching certificates.

Tribunals will hear eight more of the less serious cases by the middle of August.

Tags: cheating, standardized tests, Dougherty County Schools, independent tribunals