By Jennifer Mrozowski
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati Public Schools officials on Tuesday announced an end to an investigation at Walnut Hills High School, saying there was no wrongdoing that merited disciplinary action against the school's administration.

The investigation looked into whether Principal Marvin Koenig had changed students' grades, whether he allowed students to enroll in the prestigious Evanston school without taking the required entrance exam and other allegations.

At the end of the four-month investigation, district officials concluded that school board policies and procedures should be updated and that the district also should review how administrators use those policies.

"In some instances, there were areas where the (Walnut Hills High School) administration exercised discretion which was at variance with established policy and procedures," said Scott Romans, the district's general counsel. "But nothing rose to the level of causing serious concern with regard to the administrator's decision-making process."

Romans said Koenig would remain as principal. Koenig declined to comment Tuesday evening.

The investigation was prompted after a group led by former City Councilman and school parent Charles Winburn made the allegations against Koenig. The group, whose membership other than Winburn was never disclosed, called itself the Save Walnut Hills Committee/The Parents' Union.

School board members spent about two hours behind closed doors Tuesday listening to the results of the investigation.

The district found that 14 students were allowed to enroll in Walnut Hills High without taking the entrance exam, which was in violation of board policy. However, the policy does allow for admission of students "in accordance with procedures and standards established by the superintendent."

Romans said it appears that former Superintendent Steven Adamowski had allowed some students who were new to the district and who had missed the test date to be admitted based on their academic records, as long as they took the test later.

The district's investigators, after comparing students' final grades to those in teacher grade books, could not substantiate claims of grade inflation.

"Many of our policies and procedures are out of date, do not reflect current practice, or current practice is at variance and has been accepted for a number of years," Romans said.

The board has authorized a policy review firm to examine the board policies, which is expected to be complete by May.

Winburn criticized the investigation late Tuesday.

"I think this is the worst cover-up since President Nixon," he said.

E-mail jmrozowski@enquirer.com