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Staples High School Principal John Dodig told the Board of Education Monday night that the school’s staff takes cheating very seriously and is trying to stop any of it happening at the school.
Cheating has been an issue facing the school since Westport students were highlighted in a New York Times piece about the issue several years ago.
Dodig said there have been 13 instances of cheating this school year that were reported to the assistant principals for action, and two of them were appealed.
The punishment ranged from the student receiving an F on the project to removal from the course, he said.
A high school committee comprised of students, teachers and parents are working on the issues—including cleaning up the school’s academic integrity policy, he said.
After April vacation, Dodig said, teachers will be surveyed about instances of cheating and how they handle it.
Teachers meet with their students about the expectations, he said, and students know not to cheat and also realize it is important to live ethical lives.
They also need to continue their efforts to show students that school is about learning for the sake of learning, Dodig said.
“What should excite them is what they learn and not the grade,” he said.
What worries him, Dodig said, is the messages students get from outside the school with adults.
Adults are caught nearly every day for cheating in some way, he said, and that is a far more powerful message.
“We certainly are not giving up,” he said.
Board Chairwoman Mary Parmelee said there were 13 instances out of a student population of 1,500 students.
“I don’t think it is as widespread as some believe,” she said. “I think the vast majority do their own work and work as hard as they can.”
Michael McGovern, a board member, said he doesn’t believe an honor code would work at Staples because it would require students to turn others in for cheating.
“That’s not something the community could get its arm around,” he said.
