Former principal breaks her silence

Former Sanders-Clyde Elementary School Principal MiShawna Moore can't sleep or eat, and she can't escape bad dreams or anxiety attacks.

Since she learned last month that the State Law Enforcement Division opened an investigation into the authenticity of her former school's test scores, Moore's life has been put on hold. She compared it to a death sentence.

"All I do is wake up and think about this and think about how this has impacted my life," Moore said. "I mean, it's like a bad nightmare and I'm just waiting on waking up from it."

Moore sat down today with The Post and Courier to talk for the first time about the allegations surrounding Sanders-Clyde, a high-poverty school that experienced an abrupt drop in its test scores after officials monitored its testing this year. The decline followed significant improvement that was spearheaded by Moore and made the school one of the district's success stories.

The interview was held at the downtown Charleston office of Thurmond Kirchner & Timbes, the law firm that Moore hired to represent her. Two of the firm's partners stayed by her side. Moore, who routinely has shied away from media attention, declined the request to have a photographer present and participated in the question-and-answer session on the advice of her attorneys, who said Moore had nothing to hide.

Moore denied cheating or directing anyone to cheat on the state Palmetto Achievement Challenge Tests, and she said she didn't think teachers in her school were involved in any potential foul play.

Read more in Tuesday's editions of The Post and Courier.