Centerburg Tightens Security After Cheating Scheme

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- More than half of the seniors at a top Ohio high school who took world studies tests last spring were involved in a cheating scheme that prompted school officials to cancel graduation ceremonies, according to the district's review of the matter.

Centerburg School District Superintendent Dorothy Holden said 30 of the 57 seniors who took world studies used stolen tests, on everything from vocabulary to Aztec Indian history, to cheat.

Many of the rest of the 97 seniors at Centerburg High School, as well as some students in lower grades also knew about the cheating. The cheating scheme also included science tests taken by juniors and seniors, Holden said.

School officials traced the cheating to a tech-savvy student who figured out a school computer password, and the district has tightened its computer security in the wake of the scandal.

The school also will emphasize ethics to all students in the school year beginning Aug. 26. That includes updating the student handbook.

But Holden acknowledged that the ethics message might not be enough to stop some students from cheating and others from turning a blind eye.

All of society is becoming more accepting "of a degree of dishonesty," she said.

The district's investigation found that a 17-year-old boy got access to a computer file containing world studies tests when he figured out that some teachers hadn't changed a generic password - the word "admin" - when they received classroom computers two years ago.

He used the password to steal tests, and he distributed them to other students at least nine times between January and April, Holden said.

Several other teachers also hadn't changed their passwords, a practice that will end under new rules that require all teachers to create individualized passwords, Holden said.

The district also added security levels to reach files used by students, teachers and administrators.

The scheme unraveled two days before graduation when administrators discovered a congratulatory note to the perpetrator on a school computer.

Even though the ceremony was canceled, all students who cheated still received diplomas because their grades were high enough without the world studies class.

The student who stole the tests was prosecuted as a minor for unauthorized use of computer property, fined $272, sentenced to 24 hours of community service, ordered to write an apology letter to the school board and retake world studies.

Centerburg High, with about 400 students, is one of the state's top schools, with an "excellent" academic rating last year, according to the state Department of Education.

Last year, the school had a 99 percent graduation rate, compared with a statewide rate of 87 percent.

Samantha Ballog was a Centerburg senior last year who heard about the cheating.

"I wasn't friends with anyone that actually did," she said. "I don't think it was my place to say anything or I would have."

Leroy Bumpus, who is finishing his 36th year on the Centerburg school board, stands by the board's decision to cancel the graduation ceremony.

"It sent a strong message to our own district, as well as ... to a lot of other school districts that cheating is just not going to be tolerated," he said.

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