Growing up in a small town, I remember there always being some kind of controversy every year with the Homecoming Queen votes.
The most popular girl in school would always win, and then you’d have crying and gnashing of teeth from the other contestants, begging the school principal to re-count the votes because “there’s no way that b*tch Ashley beat me.” Then the boyfriends would get involved, the moms would see each other at the nail salon… it got pretty wild.
But for one Florida mom and her daughter, they took “wild” to a whole new level.
Mom, who just so happens to be the assistant principal at the district elementary school, was willing to make sure her little princess would win the very prestigious title of Homecoming Queen by hacking into the school’s computer system to alter the votes.
According to NorthEscambia.com, Laura Rose Carroll, 50, and her 17-year old daughter, Emily Rose Glover, were charged with one count each of offenses against users of computers, computer systems, computer networks, and electronic devices, as well as unlawful use of a two-way communications device, criminal use of personally identifiable information, and conspiracy to commit these offenses.
The investigation revealed that Carroll, an assistant principal at Bellview Elementary School, had accessed student FOCUS accounts (the school district’s student information system) with her daughter to change votes. As assistant principal, Carroll had district-wide access to student records, grades, financial information, and more. The investigation also found that Carroll’s FOCUS account accessed 372 high school records since 2019.
Grover even bragged about logging into the system. As one witness recalled:
“When Emily Grover was a sophomore [redacted] class, I recall times that she logged onto her moms focus account and openly shared information, grades, schedules, etc. with others. She did not seem like logging in was a big deal and was very comfortable with doing so.”
Apparently, Grover (with mom’s permission) was using her mom’s access to hack into student accounts and vote for herself in the fall 2020 Homecoming race, which she won in a landslide. But naturally, that caught the attention of the school’s voting software Election Runner when 117 votes were logged from the same IP address… an instant red flag.
I mean if you’re willing to commit multiple felonies over a Homecoming election, at least cover your tracks, right?
I mean, sheesh… the extent people will go to wear a fake crown, a $5 sash, and win a title that nobody will even remember in 6 months. Needless to say, mom was fired, the daughter was expelled and now they’re both looking at a couple felony charges.
Which makes me wonder…
Did Bobbie Joe Gentry rig the Homecoming election? Because if so, Joe Diffie really got played.
