Schools

District Closes Cheating Investigation, Disciplines 97 Students

Disciplinary action stems from a May incident involving Advanced Placement homework assignments.

Ward Melville High School's administration has concluded its investigation into an incident of at the Advanced Placement level and has disciplined 97 students, the district said in a statement Monday.

In May, it was discovered that an 11th grade student's Moodle account – an online tool used to manage homework assignments – had been inappropriately accessed by other students.

Some parents have said that grades may have been lowered as part of what the district called "academic consequences." However, a district spokesperson said administrators are not commenting on the type of disciplinary action taken, nor are they commenting on the methods used in the investigation.

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High school principal Alan Baum sent a letter to the families of those students informing them of the decision.

"Accessing another student's Moodle account, even with the permission of the student, is wrong," the letter read. "It is even more significant to access someone's Moodle account without their permission or even knowledge. In both instances, accessing someone else's Moodle account is academically wrong and a violation of the Code of Conduct."

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This year's in light of the cheating incident; a district spokesperson said it will be rescheduled for September.

Baum also said in a statement the district "will redouble its efforts to communicate to students the appropriate use of online information, validity of sources, plagiarism, and proper attribution of work that is not one's own."

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