Nearly 30 seniors from a southern New Mexico high school will not be graduating after a cheating scandal.
The district says they were part of a larger group who changed their grades in an online computer system.
The Gadsden Independent School District in Anthony, New Mexico, says it appears 55 Gadsden High School students changed their grades between February and April.
A spokesperson says they started investigating after a school counselor reported discrepancies in their grading system used for online courses.
They soon discovered many grades were changed after initially being posted using the same access code, only given to teachers.
The district says about 450 grades were changed in all.
Parents and students say it’s disappointing for those who actually put in the work.
“Wearing the cap and gown is an honor and it’s a privilege to those that do complete the credits properly,” explained a parent.
“There’s some of us like me that work hard to get the ‘A+’ and just to be able to change it like that, it’s just very unfair,” said student Omar Vargas.
The district says the 29 seniors involved will not graduate with their class.
They will be able to redo the coursework over the summer and can get their diploma after that.
The sophomores and juniors involved will also have to retake their courses.
The superintendent said in a statement he wanted to make sure students knew there are consequences to their actions but that they had an opportunity to fix their wrongs.
The district says they still don’t know how the students obtained the code.
Only five of the 55 students involved were suspended. When asked why, a spokesperson said they cannot discuss a student’s disciplinary record.
