Records Tampering at Upstate NY High School

Parents Forum
1

<p>News out of Syracuse this morning about a group of students who hacked into their school’s computers to alter grades. Some of the kids are believed to be involved in a test-cheating ring (SAT, AP). The school in question is located in Syracuse’s most upscale suburbs. The school regularly achieves the highest mean SAT scores in the area and sends most of its graduates to very selective schools.</p>

<p>From the Syracuse Post-Standard:</p>

<p>"Seven Arraigned in F-M Tampering Case</p>

<p>Six Fayetteville-Manlius students and one 2007 graduate now attending Syracuse University were arraigned today on charges related to tampering with high school computers and altering grades this year and last year. </p>

<p>Four of the F-M students and the SU student were charged with five or more felonies. Two F-M students were charged with a misdemeanor. An eighth person, an F-M graduate now attending Johns Hopkins University, is expected to be arraigned Saturday on a misdemeanor related to the case. </p>

<p>For the first two teen-age boys arraigned, the prosecutor requested $15,000 cash or $30,000 bond. However, their attorneys successfully lobbied the judge for releasing the teens on their own recognizance. </p>

<p>In addition to the computer tampering, investigators have uncovered information in regard to cheating on Advanced Placement examinations, SATs and other tests. That information is being turned over to F-M district officials for their action. </p>

<p>The following teenagers were arraigned in Manlius Village Court. </p>

<p>Ahmed Yasser Souid, 17, 8231 Turnstone Drive, Manlius
Joshua T. Brown, 17, 4870 Westfield Drive, Manlius
Christian Montana Bucknell, 17, 4434 Swissvale Drive, Manlius
Ian Samuel Kaplan, 18, 4426 Swissvale Drive, Manlius
Souid, Brown, Bucknell and Kaplan were arraigned on the following charges:</p>

<p>computer trespass, a class E felony first-degree tampering with public records, a class D felony second-degree forgery, a class D felony criminal possession of computer related material, a class E felony second-degree computer tampering, a class D felony third-degree attempted burglary, a class E felony third-degree unlawful possession of personal identification information, a misdemeanor two counts of fifth-degree conspiracy, a misdemeanor</p>

<p>James Robert Vanden Boom, 18, 400 Comstock Ave., Syracuse. He is a freshman at Syracuse University. Vanden Boom was arraigned on the following charges:</p>

<p>computer trespass, a class E felony
second-degree computer tampering, a class D felony
second-degree forgery, a class D felony
first-degree tampering with public records, a class D felony
fifth-degree conspiracy, a misdemeanor</p>

<p>Steven-Paul Patrick Hatala, 18, 117 Washington Blvd., Fayetteville
Matthew E. Richter, 17, 7699 Clark Lane, Manlius
Hatala and Richter were arraigned on the following charge:</p>

<p>fifth-degree conspiracy, a misdemeanor</p>

<p>An F-M graduate now attending Johns Hopkins University is expected to be arraigned Saturday on a misdemeanor charge."</p>

2

<p>I can’t help wondering why these kinds of stories always involve boys, never girls.</p>

3

<p>I can’t believe they’re named Brown, Bucknell and Kaplan.</p>

4

<p>makes one wonder about those “high test scores” at that upscale school</p>

<p>hmmm, wonder how long this was going on</p>

5

<p>This school district is right near to mine, and one of my best friends knows almost all of these kids. Apparently they’ve told her in the past that they’d hacked into the finals and such for classes, but she thought they were joking. As far as she knows, it’s been going on for about 3 years (I’m not sure if this is completely accurate, though).</p>

<p>Here’s a link with more info on the story: [url=<a href=“http://www.syracuse.com/articles/news/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1194429895132160.xml&coll=1]Syracuse.com[/url”>http://www.syracuse.com/articles/news/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1194429895132160.xml&coll=1]Syracuse.com[/url</a>]</p>

6

<p>if it was that easy to do, who wants to bet kids have been cheating there for years</p>

7

<p>Wonder if they cheat at Science Olympiad too? They are nearly always in the top 3 in the state.</p>

8

<p>Mathmom - From the Syracuse.com story linked above:'</p>

<p>“The four current students who face felony charges all appear to be high achievers, consistently on the high school honor roll and involved in extracurricular activities. Two have been Science Olympiad Team members, and one performed with the high school concert choir and placed second as a member of the Onondaga County Math League team.”</p>

9

<p>Another high school cheating scandal at a top public in the northeast.</p>

<p>[School</a> cheating scandal divides N.H. town - The Boston Globe](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/09/19/school_cheating_scandal_divides_nh_town/]School”>http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/09/19/school_cheating_scandal_divides_nh_town/)</p>

10

<p>

Though I understand the skepticism, the illegal acts of this group of boys in no way indicate that the vast majority of other students did not earn their high scores legitimately. I can vouch for at least three high scorers at this school (which isn’t really all that upscale, believe me) - they’re my kids. This ugly story is happening in my community. It’s going to be an enormous mess. I know one of these young men - my heart breaks for his family. </p>

<p>As so often happens, the press coverage is already riddled with rumors and inaccuracies. For instance, several stories report that the students tampered with class ranking - impossible, since the school does not rank. </p>

<p>

Again, I understand the question - please understand that it hurts. The SO team practices for hours a week under the guidance of a superlative teacher. The fine young people I know on this team do not deserve to be suspected of cheating.</p>

<p>Can we really expect that observers will consider the entire school population suspect because of the actions of a few? I wouldn’t make that assumption myself.</p>

11

<p>What ever happened in the Hanover case? Does anyone know?</p>

12

<p>

Unfortunately, Yes. If it was just one student or just one exam……………but 6 students, multiple tests over at least two years………….will lead people to question or at least look very closely at ALL of the students attending this school. Sorry</p>

13

<p>^ I don’t think the entire school is suspect. I imagine that these kids were part of a clique or popular group and wouldn’t want everyone involved. After all, how could it have gone on for 2-3 years without detection if everyone knew?</p>

<p>I wonder about sabotage. Another parent and I spent hours arranging choir robes recently, and on the stage were a few very mis-sized robes. I think the kids rearranged a few robes as a ‘joke’. If the Syracuse kids could alter their own grades, might they not have lowered a few others?</p>

<p>frazzled1, my sympathies. Please keep us informed of the facts. Does your school use something like mygradebook.com, where individuals can monitor student grades?</p>

14

<p>Wow. 1600 students attend this school. What reasoning leads someone to say, “That guy’s probably cheating - people do at his high school, after all” about 1600 kids? I don’t follow the argument. Maybe it’s because I’m fairly certain that SOME kids cheat at every high school, though rarely in such an egregious manner. The acknowledgement of cheating in a particular school doesn’t prove, to me, that everyone does it. Nor does the fact that a particular school hasn’t experienced this kind of cheating mean that ALL its students are more trustworthy or honorable than the students at our school.</p>

<p>When I read the New Hampshire story, it never occurred to me to question or “look very closely” at ALL of the students attending that school. And when UVA reported a cheating ring some years ago, it didn’t make the school or its entire student body suspect in my mind. It did serve to surprise me that human nature can be so foolish and grasping as to attempt cheating at an institution with a prized honor code. </p>

<p>I hope my daughter and her classmates don’t happen across this thread. They’re reeling from this situation as it is, and probably don’t realize that they’ve already been found suspect because of where they happen to go to school.</p>

15

<p>

Thanks, treetopleaf - sympathy has been hard to come by this week. Though some teachers in our district use mygradebook.com, the system the boys hacked into is the widely used SIS (Student Information System), which contains more than grades (personal/health information, etc.).</p>

16

<p>Frazzled, you and all the non-cheaters and their parents at your school have my sympathies. I have to admit that my first reaction when I read the story was sympathy for the hard-working, honest majority of the students at the school whose gpa’s and test scores would become suspect. The fact that no one knows how many or whose grades were tampered with does leave all the kids vulnerable to scrutiny. I would hope the high school would send a statement with all transcripts that details, to the best of their ability, the extent of the criminal activity and ensures the accuracy of the data on the transcript. Thank goodness the school doesn’t rank–what a mess that would be.</p>

17

<p>That’s the thing I hate most about cheating. People say it hurts only themselves, but that’s not the case at all. I highly doubt that most of the SO team cheated, but I will wonder about the two kids who are listed on the cheater list.</p>

18

<p>This is sickening. This could have real consequences for the honest kids at the schools with cheating. And how about honest applicants who might have been nudged out of scholarships or college acceptances by the cheaters? Just sickening. I think the parents should face some sort of legal consequences but that’s probably not possible.</p>

19

<p>^^^ Their parents are going through hell, I promise you. There is also the likelihood of law suits being filed against these boys. Their family situations and economic backgrounds are very diverse; some of the accused are by no means the products of neglectful or over-indulgent homes. I do not blame their parents - who, as I indicated, are certainly suffering.</p>

20

<p>Maybe they resorted to cheating because of too much pressure to excel. There’s always more to the story, I guess.</p>