RENTON — A Renton high school student accused of cheating on a test is suing the school district over the F-grade she was given for chemistry last year.
The Lindbergh High School student says she was unjustly accused of cheating and unfairly penalized, Seattlepi.com reported.
The teen’s attorney, Greg McBroom, said she is concerned that the failing grade will hurt her chances of getting into college.
“That’s the only reason she’s filing the lawsuit,” said McBroom, an attorney with the Kirkland firm Livengood Alskog. “She’s never had any problems with the school. No disciplinary record. Nothing.”
The teen was accused of cheating after her chemistry teacher found notes in a pencil pouch accessible to her during the test in June, McBroom said. The attorney said his client wasn’t spotted cheating, but that the teacher assumed she was using a crib sheet.
In September, the school board reconsidered her punishment and dropped the day of detention she had been assessed but kept the F-grade on her record.
“After careful review, the council finds that the final grade submitted by the teacher, with the reduction for the academic infraction, is upheld by a preponderance of the evidence submitted,” board member Al Talley wrote in the Sept. 23 decision.
McBroom contends the evidence did not support the school board’s decision.
School district spokesman Randy Matheson said punishments like detention are subject to appeal, but grades normally are not. Students can’t appeal grades they don’t like to the school board, Matheson said. Grade challenges happen at the school level, he said.
State law allows for parents or students to ask the Superior Court to review disciplinary decisions after the administrative appeals process is exhausted.
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