US Students Expose Former School Principal

When student reporters at the Pittsburg High School in Kansas USA, decided to research the background of their newly appointed principal/superintendent, Dr Amy Robertson, no-one expected their school newspaper story to link directly to Dubai or get picked up by major global newspapers.

Senior and editor of the school newspaper, Trina Paul, said, "she was going to be the head of our school, and we wanted be assured that she was qualified and had the proper credentials… we stumbled on some things that most might not consider legitimate credentials.”

According to the Kansas City Star, during the course of the junior-journalists' online investigation they uncovered a series of UAE based articles from 2012, which helped unravel Robertson's lies.

Via articles in the Gulf News and the National, the students discovered that this is not the first time Robertson's lack of credentials have landed her in hot-water.

In 2012, Robertson was superintendent of the now closed US curriculum Dubai American Scientific School.

The school was rated Unsatisfactory at consecutive inspections and closed in 2013 after being ordered to do so by the KHDA for a slew of issues relating to rules and regulations, including issues surrounding Robertson being unlicensed to work in the country.

The Gulf News reported at the time, "the principal is not authorised to speak for the school because she has not been approved by KHDA to hold the position. She neither holds a permit from KHDA, nor a labour ministry permit,” said Abdul Rahman Nasser, executive director of customers relations at KHDA. 

Further stories from the time report the school had not reported the correct number of students to the KHDA, that teachers were unlicensed, and absenteeism was 'rampant'.

At the time, Robertson insisted that she personally held a Ministry permit to work at the school. However, the KHDA insisted she did not.

After the school closed in 2013 Robertson left the UAE.

Fast-forward five years and question marks over Ms Robertson's licensing have once again caused a very public 'bump' in her career.

The story, published last week, has left both Robertson and the school board who made the appointment, red-faced.

Initially, the students began questioning the legitimacy of the university where Dr Robertson got her Master's and Doctorate degrees.

Robertson claimed that Corllins University closed some years ago, however, U.S. Department of education could not find any evidence of a Corllins University in operation.

In fact, the only online links to the institute were several articles linking it to the purchase of diplomas and other qualifications.

Further investigation by the students brought their attention to the UAE where Robertson said she had lived for 19 years and her position at the Dubai American Scientific School.

School journalism adviser, Emily Smith said she is “very proud... They were not out to get anyone to resign or to get anyone fired. They worked very hard to uncover the truth.”