POWAY: Two Rancho Bernardo High teens expelled for cheating
District still awaiting ruling of administrative hearing on five others
By SHAYNA CHABNER - Staff Writer | ∞
POWAY ---- Two of the seven Rancho Bernardo High School students who were suspended in April for their alleged involvement in an extensive cheating incident this spring were expelled this week, district officials said.
The two students, whose names have not been released, will have to complete their remaining courses through independent study at home or in the county's Juvenile Court and Community Schools, commonly know as summit schools, Poway Unified School District Superintendent Don Phillips said.
The five other students are waiting for their administrative hearings to determine their alleged involvement and any disciplinary action, Phillips added.
District officials have said the students gained access to the computer files of several teachers and downloaded exams and changed their grades by using hacking software they downloaded off the Internet to decode passwords.
With an administrator's password, one student also allegedly logged into the district's network and changed a transcript, officials said.
News of the cheating incident surfaced April 23 when a teacher discovered a flash drive --- a portable storage device for computer files --- with downloaded exams and confidential course material. District officials said one of the seven students apparently left the device in the teacher's computer accidentally.
"I feel like they have compromised our whole system and the integrity of our grading process for all of our students," district board president Linda Vanderveen said Thursday. "It just really concerns me and most of all saddens me that students would think that it's OK to do that."
Before approving the expulsions during Monday night's board meeting, Vanderveen was one of three board members who decried the students' actions. She said she was disappointed to learn that the expelled students could still earn their high school diploma from the district by completing courses either through independent study or a high school completion program at the juvenile court schools or local community colleges.
"They don't deserve a diploma from our district and we have to give it to them," she said.
Phillips said "the strongest action that trustees could take was taken."
District officials said they're waiting to find out if the San Diego County District Attorney's Office will be filling criminal charges against the teens.
San Diego County district attorney spokesman Paul Levikow said this week he couldn't comment on juvenile cases. All the students implicated in the cheating incident were under the age of 18 or just nearing their 18th birthday at the time.
"Juvenile matters are confidential," Levikow said.
In the past, area high school students have been charged in similar cases. Four students who hacked into the computer system at La Costa Canyon High School using employee passwords and then downloaded tests and course material in 2005 were prosecuted in Juvenile Court. The students, who were minors at the time, were ordered to pay restitution to the district, a San Dieguito Union High district official said.
More recently, two 18-year-old seniors from Tesoro High School in Orange County were charged last week with felony charges for hacking into the school computer system and changing grades to better their chances of college admission, officials with the Orange County District Attorney's Office said. One of those students has been charged with 69 felonies for altering public records, stealing and secreting public records, fraud, burglary and identity theft, among other things, and could face more than 38 years in prison if convicted.
Phillips said this week that he would not be "surprised if legal action was taken" against any of the Rancho Bernardo students.
Contact staff writer Shayna Chabner at (760) 740-5416 or schabner@nctimes.com.
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Cheaters wrote on Jun 26, 2008 1:16 PM:I hear there is a school district in Kansas that will let them cheat, then they can graduate with honors. They should not be allowed to graduate in the district they cheated in, make them finish in night school while working full time, then they might affix value to their education. One thing for sure no college will touch them, except JR. college.
mt wrote on Jun 26, 2008 1:39 PM:What kid doesn't cheat in school. Just because it involves computer hacking it's a big deal. I'm sure there is a lot worse things going on in the school.
HonestAbe wrote on Jun 26, 2008 2:06 PM:hacking into a computer (a felony) is a lot more complicated than peering at your neighbor's test paper.
NotHonest_Bush wrote on Jun 26, 2008 4:20 PM:"hacking into a cpu ( a felony ) is a lot more complicated than peering at your neighbor's test paper"
I disagree with this statement. I grew up on computers & could code a few basic languages before I even got to high school. I think walking into a lab after hours, pulling up a chair and swiping some files is a hell of a lot less risky then looking at a test while being monitored.
Cheating doesnt help anyone but the ones that get away with it... When we live in a society run by cheaters (most every politician in office) you do what you have to for success. Our whole system is run on ploys, spinning the truth and dishonesty. Then we shove kids into 8 hour a day jails(school) that are not for everyone. We are not all standard, and not everyone receives the same benefits from the same programs.
Until we expect everyone to start being honest and stop being too passive or apathetic to hold them to it (which will never happen in this culture or country); we will not see any decreases in cheating. This is an every man for himself society. We share little more than oppression and government sponsored mind control. Its a sad truth that I wish people would stop trying to over generalize.
CrimeHater wrote on Jun 26, 2008 6:19 PM:Nice one, Beavis . . .
esteban wrote on Jun 26, 2008 6:54 PM:I'm sure the parents blamed the school.
Greg in Oceanside wrote on Jun 26, 2008 9:06 PM:Good. Glad to see these punks are getting a punishment that fits the crime. Now, what are the reactions from the parents? Let's hope they're responsible enough to take the appropriate actions with their children and not go into denial mode. Lastly, let's hope the kids learned a valuable lesson and don't make wrong decisions in the future.
Off Shore Job Opportunity wrote on Jun 26, 2008 11:48 PM:China is looking for a few good hackers.
Hey wrote on Jun 27, 2008 2:12 AM:Isn't manipulating the American political system via the 14th amendment in order to get free goodies cheating?
Please, be logically consistent.
Reardon wrote on Jun 27, 2008 9:58 AM:Cheating pays. Ted Kennedy was kicked out of Harvard for having a classmate take an exam for him, and he became the Lion of the Senate, ran for the Democratic Party nomination for President, and is one of the most popular Senators in the Democratic Party.
Now if those Poway kids can just arrange to let a girl drown in their car while they swim away, these kids are on their way to Democratic Party success!
to mt wrote on Jun 27, 2008 11:57 AM:Are you kidding? You think every student cheats? Brush it off, eh? You forge a check, steal from the stores, grab a hotel towel ('they won't miss it), don't return a found wallet, etc. These students knew the consequences of being 'caught' but thought they were 'too smart' for that, but not smart enough to get a good grade on their own merits? What's wrong with this picture? It's proven that even cheating 'once' leads to further crime (yes it is a crime) - maybe stealing your car cause they need one? I'm disgusted that anyone sees any reason to defend these students.
to are you kidding wrote on Jun 27, 2008 4:09 PM:Oh sure you never cheated? White lie,never? Ya right. What kind of crime are you into?
Whats the Fuss. . . wrote on Jun 27, 2008 7:09 PM:These students are on the fast track to becoming politicians or CEO's.
rbhs wrote on Jun 28, 2008 3:02 PM:As someone who graduated from RB High 3 years ago, I can say that cheating has always been a widespread issue among top students, even if it hasn't been to this degree. Part of the blame, however, should be put on the school and the school district for creating a school culture where cheating becomes both regular and viewed as necessary. RBHS is a phenomenal school, but administrators and teachers create an environment where you're considered a failure if you don't take every AP class, and don't go to a UC. RB corrals students into AP classes, and won't let them drop at all during the year, even if they're failing. RB has systematically discouraged students from the music and arts to get them to take more AP classes, so the school's API index number can be the highest in the county. The school puts way too much emphasis on numbers, and having its students do whatever is necessary to get to the top of the heap--so this incident, while deplorable on the part of these two students, is not the biggest surprise. This is not an isolated incident. While the students should certainly be expelled, and deserve to be, RBHS administrators should also take a step back and see what they need to change about the school's number-centric, aggressively-competitive culture to prevent this from happening again.
wanna be hero wrote on Aug 19, 2008 6:01 PM:Now here in America, it seems school is just a race to see who can get the highest GPA. Its not about learning anymore, teachers are asking for us to cheat with how much homework they give us and the pressure of telling us that if we don't get into college or get straight A's we wont get good jobs. Its just not true, i'm not saying that its ok to cheat it's just understandable.
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