Wichita ? Some former teachers at a public school that was privately run say they told company officials about testing irregularities months before the Wichita school district learned of the problems.

The school board voted last week to take back Ingalls and Isely elementary schools from Edison Schools Inc., the nation’s largest for-profit manager of public schools.

Enrollment at Ingalls declined from a high of 722 to 426 this year. Enrollment at Isely dropped from about 280 to 200 this year.

On average, more than half of the teaching staff has left after each of the last three years.

At least three former Ingalls-Edison teachers said they told two Edison vice presidents during exit interviews last spring that test rules were ignored on state and district assessments as well as on the national Metropolitan Achievement Test Seventh Edition, or MAT-7.

Ingalls’ top two administrators, both longtime school district employees, were removed in December after an investigation found time limits were ignored and questions read aloud when the MAT-7 was given in October.

The MAT-7 evaluates what students know at the beginning of the third- and fifth-grade years.

Edison’s spokesman said last fall that the company did not know of any earlier testing problems. Edison spokesman Adam Tucker repeated that position last week.

“No teachers raised any questions or concerns about testing issues or irregularities,” Tucker said.

But teachers interviewed by The Wichita Eagle disagreed. Most asked that their names not be used because they are concerned about their careers or about problems with former co-workers.

“I know that I mentioned testing protocols,” said one former teacher, who recalled watching another teacher correct students’ answers on the district’s fifth-grade math test last March.

Edison, a for-profit company, operates 136 schools across the country and is seeking a multi-million-dollar contract to run 40 to 100 schools in Philadelphia.

The company will continue to operate Dodge elementary and Jardine middle school in Wichita. The district said it has no reason to suspect the validity of test results at those schools.

Superintendent Winston Brooks cited declining enrollment, high teacher turnover and unimpressive test scores as reasons for taking back Ingalls and Isely.

Brooks and other district administrators met with Edison officials after the exit interviews last spring. He said Edison did not tell them of teachers’ concerns about testing or a hostile work environment. The company took no apparent action.

Brooks said he plans to contact Edison to get more information about the exit interviews.

In its investigation of last fall’s MAT-7s, Brooks said, only one of 25 teachers mentioned problems with earlier tests, so the district did not seek out past staff.

About 20 teachers, current and former Ingalls and Isely staff, were interviewed by Edison officials last spring.

The Eagle spoke to seven Ingalls teachers who went through the interviews. Three said they were sure they raised concerns about testing procedures. Another thinks she did but can’t say for certain.

Four of the teachers said they were told to do whatever it took to make sure students succeeded on standardized tests, including ignoring time limits, reading questions from a reading comprehension test aloud and in some cases correcting answers during a test.