Gunn HS Student Handbook

ACADEMIC HONESTY REGULATIONS
Statement of Philosophy

The primary goals of any educational institution should be to enhance the learning environment and
to promote the pursuit of intellectual excellence. The Palo Alto Board of Education believes that the
public school should reinforce the values of our democratic society, teach citizenship, and provide an
environment conducive to ethical behavior . Our Henry M. Gunn High School community believes
that the school should maintain a climate in which honesty, courtesy, consideration integrity, and a
concern for others are highly valued.

Cheating is an obstacle to achieving these goals. Factors that contribute to cheating include
pressure for grades, not enough time to finish all the required homework, students taking advantage
of teachers who do not monitor their classes closely, unrealistic parent expectations, and inefficient
study skills. None of these reasons makes cheating acceptable. In any of its forms, for whatever
reason, cheating denies the value of education. Our teaching staff strives to put the importance of
learning above the importance of grades and to convince students that their best efforts are all that
anyone should expect.

Definition: Cheating is taking (or lending) at inappropriate times a person’s work, information,
ideas, research, and documentation, without properly identifying the originator.
The teacher’s professional judgment will determine whether cheating has occurred. Students are
reminded not to give the instructor cause to consider their actions violative.
To avoid inadvertent dishonesty the following list, which is not intended to be all-inclusive, delineates
a variety of methods of cheating:
• Looking at someone else’s paper during and examination, test, or quiz.
• Talking with another student during an examination, test, or quiz.
• Using any kind of “cheat notes.”
• Letting someone else see one’s own or another’s paper during an examination, test, or quiz.
• Copying work assigned to be done independently or allowing someone else to copy one’s own or
another’s work, including computer generated information and programs.

Since individual teachers hold different expectations with regard to homework (i.e., some teachers
encourage students to work together while other teachers may expect an assignment to be completed
independently at home), it is the responsibility of the individual teacher to clarify to the student
his/her expectations regarding individual assignments. These may include take-home tests, group
reports, special projects, etc.
• Copying or closely paraphrasing sentences, phrases, or passages from an uncited source while
writing a paper or doing research. This includes inappropriate use of information from the
Internet to do papers.
• Giving test information to other students in other periods of the same teacher/same course.
• Submitting individual projects not wholly one’s own and/or procuring papers or parts of papers
from the Internet.
• Fabricating or altering laboratory data.
• Failure to cite sources including, but not limited to, lack of quotation marks and/or italics.

Consequences: When a student is found to be in violation of the Honor/Integrity Code, the
consequences and procedures for each instance are as follows:
1. In any instance of cheating, a teacher is required to contact parents.
a. The student will receive an “F” for the assignment/exam.
b. The teacher will confer with the student.
c. The teacher will notify the counselor, who will work with the student to help him/her
understand the nature of the offense and how to correct it.
2. Repeating instances of cheating will result in one or more of the following consequences:
a. Receive an “F” for the assignment/exam, and/ or
b. Have quarter mark lowered one full letter grade, or
c. If a new violation occurs in the same class the student will be dropped from the course with an
“F” for the semester, and
d. The student will be suspended for one day and will be expected to spend that day researching
and writing on the topic of integrity.

Teacher Responsibilities
1. Make your policy and personal philosophy known to all students. Be specific as to:
a. Tests
b. Papers
c. Homework
2. Be fair to all students
a. Prepare students for and give notice of tests.
b. Be available to students before work is due.
c. Observe school’s dead week policy.
3. Provide constant and consistent supervision during test period; proctor actively.

Student Responsibilities
1. Tests or Quizzes:
a. Manage time so you have adequate time to study.
b. Take responsibility to find out what material will be covered on the test or quiz.
c. During the test make sure paper cannot be seen by anyone else; keep your eyes on your own
paper; do not talk – ask teacher, not neighbor, for questions of clarification.
d. After the test or quiz, do not discuss questions with other students until all students have
taken it .
2. Fairness: Students are reminded that cheating is unfair, in that it threatens the grades of all
classmates, especially in courses which are graded on a curve. In fairness to all, students are
urged to make the teacher aware if cheating is taking place, including the kind of cheating and
the methods used.
3. Homework: Do not copy others’ homework; do not work with other students on assignments
unless the teacher gives instructions to do so or unless the teacher tells the entire class to work
together.
4. Papers: Do not copy from or paraphrase others without a footnote and appropriate punctuation.

Parent Responsibilities
1. Reinforce the values you believe in. Make sure that your child understands that your moral
values apply every day.
2. Reduce the pressure for “success at any cost.” Give your child support even when his or her best
effort doesn’t earn an “A.”
3. Be aware of homework. Help your child protect study time. Provide a good study environment
(desk, good light, quiet, etc.) Be sensitive to your child’s need for study time. When he/she says
he/she needs to study, he/she probably means it. Students commonly cheat because “there wasn’t
enough time.”
Right to Appeal: The parents and pupil have the right to request a meeting with the school site
administrator pursuant to Section 48904 of the California Education Code if they feel that due
process has not been followed.