Due to a senior gaining unauthorized access to SASI, the permanent grade database, and changing his own grade and that of another student, the administration once again reminded the staff of the appropriate boundaries for Teaching Assistants (TAs) during the staff meeting on May 21.

Registrar Tracy Douglas discovered the change on April 15. “I’m obsessive about this type of stuff. I pay attention.” Douglas said. “A student asked for a copy of his transcript, so I printed it out. When I glanced at it, I noticed that it looked different from the one I had printed out for the student a few days prior. Little red flags went up in my head, so I spoke to a guidance counselor about it, and then we went to Ms. Likins.”

After some investigation, the administration confirmed that Douglas’ instincts were correct. This led the administration to conduct another investigation on other specific students’ transcripts based upon information given by students. Douglas said many of those transcripts were fine, although some were questionable. According to Winston, the administration examined the transcripts and did not find any discrepancies.

The transcript that Douglas initially discovered did not belong to the student who made the changes, although according to Douglas, the grade change was a letter change, not a plus or minus change. “It really affected me,” she said. “I had a visceral reaction. I felt nauseated, disappointed and mad. The staff is here to support the kids and help launch them to the next grade or college or next step in their lives. I feel like a part of a small community. And then this happens...someone throws a wrench in the works, and puts a little bit of evil in the mix.”

According to Principal Noreen Likins, the senior was not a TA at the time he committed the act but picked up information to help him when he was a TA last semester. The administration pinpointed when and where the change was made and exactly what changes were made, as SASI tracks every change. “We tracked it to a computer in the science prep area that is not meant for students to use,” Assistant Principal Phil Winston said. “SASI is only available on teacher computers. The student was suspended. We deemed it as an expellable offense, though it doesn’t mean the student will be expelled.”

Since the student who changed the grades is a senior, the school decided to negotiate with the student instead of starting the expulsion process because that involves many steps and consumes a lot of time, which would not be reasonable since the school year is almost over.

Although Likins did not go into detail about the specific negotiations made with this student, she said that general agreements usually consist of not being able to participate in graduation, social events and school-wide activities.

Winston also confirmed that besides coming to take the AP tests that he paid for, the student has not been allowed to step on campus since his suspension. “The consequences are generally well defined, but because this was something so different, we had to look at the totality and context of the situation,” he said.

According to Winston, the school is required to inform the students’ college destination of the altered grade since the school is responsible for sending out accurate transcripts to maintain the integrity of the institution. However, the college decides on whether or not to take any subsequent action such as revoking admittance. By that time, the high school is no longer involved, and it beomes a matter between the college and the student. “The unforeseen long term consequences after high school will have the most impact on the student,” Winston said. “Students work hard all four years in high school, but if they do something like this it can really affect their future.”

As a result of this incident, the school will be implementing stricter security measures to prevent this from occurring again. “Things like this should never happen,” Winston said. “People shouldn’t be careless with their login info.”

Despite this incident, Likins said the school will continue to use the electronic method. “We will definitely have increased security,” Likins said. “Teachers should change their grade passwords periodically.” Winston also expressed that teachers should protect their login information to avoid putting everybody’s integrity at risk.

The administration is also implementing a TA contract for next year, stating clearly what TAs can and cannot do. “TAs should not be put in the position of dealing with sensitive information,” Likins said. “Especially in a community that’s really grade conscious, there will be a lot of problems if the TAs are allowed to grade when there’s a question of interpretation or judgment.” Nonetheless, both Likins and Winston agreed that any security measure cannot be absolutely fool-proof.

“This incident has been a reality check,” Douglas said. “I’m going to be more vigilant and just keep doing what I do.”