Seeing high graduation rates within the black community is a source of peak joy, especially in today’s racially tense climate. Schools such as Urban Prep Academies in Chicago with its consistent 100% graduation rate certainly keep us hopeful.

Unfortunately, it looks like there may be messiness afoot in the Prince George County school system. Republican Governor Larry Hogan has launched an investigation into public high school graduation rates in predominantly black Prince George County, Maryland.

According to the Washington Post, some Maryland officials believe that the county's high graduation rates are the result of both grade and credit inflation.  

Prince George County boasts an 81 percent graduation rate, which has raised alarms of suspicion among school board members and local officials. To answer these concerns, Governor Hogan wrote a letter to Maryland State Board of Education President Andrew Smarick, asking him to look further into things.

“Whistleblowers at almost ­every level in [Prince George’s County Public Schools] have clear and convincing evidence that PGCPS has graduated hundreds of students who did not meet the Maryland State Department of Education graduation requirements,” the four school board members said in a letter according to the Washington Post.

Naturally, the county’s school system is vehemently denying these allegations.

“These claims are an affront to the hard work of our teachers, administrators, students and parents over the last few years,” said Kevin Maxwell, head of the county's school system. “I categorically deny any systemic effort to promote students who did not meet state graduation requirements.”

According to the Baltimore Sun, Maxwell believes the inflations accusations are politically motivated.

“From the beginning, I have maintained that politics lie at the root of the accusations,” Maxwell said. “There has been no systemic effort to promote students in Prince George’s County Public Schools who did not meet state graduation requirements in order to inflate our graduation rates."

The Post notes that this will mark the second time that the county's schools are under investigation for inflation. Earlier this year, the federal Department of Education asked the state to conduct an investigation of the school system after receiving an anonymous tip. After completing its investigation, the state concluded that no inflation had occurred.

Still, as the old saying goes, a second look costs you nothing. (Except maybe taxpayer money.) Hopefully this second investigation can get to the bottom of things once and for all.