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Cheating Scandal and Resulting Criminal Charges Rankle NH Town
A school cheating scandal is dividing Hanover, New Hampshire, with some in the community saying criminal charges brought against the students involved are too harsh. Some 50 students at Hanover High School are suspected of either helping to use stolen keys to steal final exams in five subjects or receiving answers from the stolen exams. Rather than issuing suspensions or grade demotions, school officials notified police.
And after a seven-week investigation, the police prosecutor handling the case brought criminal charges against nine students. He recently notified their parents that if they chose to take the cases to trial, he could raise misdemeanor charges to felonies, which carry possible prison terms of 3 1/2 to seven years. Parents of the accused are furious and frantically trying to reduce charges to violations that carry no criminal penalties, penalties they say could harm their children’s chances of attending college or securing employment.
The scandal has divided the community, with some residents laying blame squarely on the nine accused students dubbed "the Notorious Nine" while others have questioned whether the intense competitiveness of Hanover High forced students into positions of having to cheat. Some have also questioned the motives of police, suggesting they are using the incident to show that children of privilege - the parents of the accused include a physician, a business school professor, a hospital president, and a columnist at a local newspaper - are not above the law. "What I look at from my office ... is whether someone should be held accountable for their actions and whether charges are consistent with the charges of other kids their ages," says prosecutor Christopher O’Connor.
County attorney Nancy Gray says the crimes the students allegedly committed are serious and deserve serious consequences. "The parents need to be reasonable," she says. "This is technically a Class B felony offense. How can you reduce that to a violation-level offense - which is for something like spitting on the sidewalk? Although you don’t want to hammer them, you want them to know this is serious." But parents of the accused say the charges are a draconian punishment for 17- and 18-year-olds. Particularly troubling, they say, is that the school turned the matter over to police; they say the incident should have been handled internally, where punishment would never have resulted in a criminal record.
School officials say they are planning to conduct an investigation of the cheating allegations but that the alleged breaking and entering and theft portion belongs in the hands of police. The school’s investigation has been delayed by the nine students’ attorneys, who have advised their clients not to speak to the school until the criminal charges are settled. The school last week sent a letter to parents of the students promising that anything they say about the alleged cheating and theft would not be relayed to the police. Superintendent Wayne Gersen says that once the school concludes its investigation, students found to be involved will face school sanctions, which could include three-day suspensions for taking part in the theft and a zero grade on any exam where stolen information was used. In addition, he says, school guidance counselors will make note of the cheating findings on the students’ college applications.
In Hanover, efforts to stem cheating are underway. A committee of students, teachers, school board officials, and community members, with input from an ethicist, is discussing a reformulation of the cheating policy for Hanover High. A local church held a forum to discuss the moral implications of the scandal, while the school principal called a meeting for the senior class to discuss the impact on the school.
Excerpted from National School Boards Assn. News Clips
