The class sighs in frustration as its teacher removes yesterday’s test scores from the grade book. Now, because one student cheated on the exam, the entire class is in a bind.

This scenario is coming up more often around Coppell High School. Teachers continue to report students for academic dishonesty, and students continue to find creative ways to cheat  on assessments.

Cheating rates throughout many high schools have increased by almost 60 percent from the 1940s to now in the United States, according to the Educational Testing Service. Many high schools have taken initiative to decrease these rates including Coppell High School.

This year, CHS has implemented new academic integrity conduct codes to decrease the amount of academic dishonesty at CHS.

Because the school has struggled with so many issues dealing with academic integrity, Principal Dr. Nicole Jund and the Coppell ISD school board decided to place a new set of rules.

If caught cheating the first time, offenders will receive  a zero on the assignment with a reassessment up to a 65. Offenders will also have to attend Saturday School to make up that assessment.

If caught cheating for the second time, offenders will receive a zero on the assignment and a reassessment up to a 50. Additionally, they will get a minimum of three days in In School Suspension (ISS). If someone is caught distributing an exam, there will be consideration for additional days.

If caught cheating the third time, offenders will receive  a zero with no opportunity for reassessment. They will also be in Out of School Suspension for a minimum of three days and will be taken out of any extracurricular activities.

“The rules that we had before were not being enforced consistently, and there were not harsh enough consequences,” CHS associate principal Sean Bagley said.  “We needed to have stricter policies to discipline students.”

Even teachers had many concerns with the codes last year.

“The rules during the previous year were very vague,” IB/Honors Chemistry teacher Susan Sheppard said. “All that happened last year was that the assessment would be taken up, and there would be parent and principal referral. It really wasn’t severe”.

Even senior Mihir Chadaga said that the issue at CHS was getting out of hand.

“Cheating here as become like a game to get the highest GPA,” Chadaga said. “A lot of kids now, are taking a lot of AP courses, and if cheating continues then we won’t be able to learn anything that will be needed for college.”  

Sheppard predicted that there would be an impact on students, since the consequences weren’t seen as severe. She hopes that this new set of codes will really help kids in the near future.

“I personally have submitted referrals for cheating. It frustrated me that students who cheated got the same rewards as students who didn’t cheat,” Sheppard said.

The school has also made students sign honor statements before assessments to ensure that students understand what cheating is, and what will happen if they violate the terms of the handbook. This has been included at CHS this year so that students will clearly understand all forms of cheating.

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