The Dresden School Board, which oversees public schools in the town of Hanover, has seen a number of internal changes in the wake of the recent cheating scandal at Hanover High School, according to Stanton Williams, the board's acting chairman. The board is currently divided on the school's decision to take legal action against the students implicated in the crime, said Robert Bruce, the board's former chairman, who resigned on Jan. 8.
Williams does not plan to prolong his tenure on the board once it expires.
30 students at Hanover High were implicated in the June scandal in which final examinations in math and chemistry were stolen, following an investigation by the school's administration. The school penalized 14 of the 30 students and reported nine of the 14 to the Hanover Police Department. The students face class B misdemeanor charges.
Three of the nine students criminally implicated have resolved their cases. One of the three was found guilty and is now appealing the court's decision. A second student entered a guilty plea and the third agreed to enter a plea of 'no contest.' The court fined two of these three students and ordered each of them to complete 25 hours of community service. These students were also ordered to write an essay that reflected on their behavior and a letter of apology to the teachers, administrators and students of Hanover High. The third student was simply fined. Six other students are still awaiting their trials, WMUR.com reported on Jan. 15.
Chris O'Connor, the prosecutor in the case, could not be reached at press time.
The board's conversations about the scandal have centered on the school administration's decision to involve the police, Bruce said.
"We are not headed in the right direction but instead in a direction that raises very basic questions about the local criminal justice process in New Hampshire and its fairness and about how it should intersect with the disciplinary responsibilities of our schools," Bruce said in a Dec. 18 statement.
Several members of the board advocated a plea arrangement for the students, Bruce said in an interview with The Dartmouth. Lebanon District Court judges rejected the plea agreement on Oct. 22, which led the prosecutor to seek more severe charges, Bruce said.
"[The rejection of the plea agreement] was devastating to those of us who really felt strongly that we did not need to pursue the legal implications," said Nancy Carter, another member of the board. Carter does not plan to prolong her tenure on the board once it expires.
The cheating incident was also unexpectedly time consuming for board members, Carter said.
"The irony of this is that we are all serving on a volunteer level," she said.
Although the board is currently divided in its opinion on the school's decision to take legal action, Bruce said the situation has not greatly affected the board's handling of day-to-day responsibilities.
"The wheels go on," Bruce said. "We just approved a new budget and a new three-year collective bargaining agreement for the teachers."
Carter pointed to Hanover High's list of early college admissions this year as an indication that the school's reputation has not been tarnished by the cheating scandal.
"Some of the young men that are about to go to trial have actually openly talked about the issue in their college essays," Carter said. "They entitled them 'biggest mistake of my life.'"
