Patricia Ochoa hands her son Alex Ochoa his yearbook, which is devoid of signatures. More than 130 students have signed a petition urging officials to end the "finger-pointing campaign" and let Ochoa graduate.
Posted on 06/07/2005 10:29:07 AM PDT by SmithL
A Laguna Creek High School senior says he's innocent. But the school district says he hacked into the school computer to change his grades. Today, the student takes the district to court to win the right to graduate with the class of 2005.
"It is the completion of four years of hard work. It is a rite of passage," said Alexander Ochoa, an honors student who plans to be in Sacramento Superior Court today to persuade a judge to allow him to receive his diploma with the rest of his class in Wednesday's ceremony.
Graduation for Ochoa is the first step toward a long-held dream. He wants to major in biochemistry and attend medical school to become a pediatrician. "That has always been my goal, my drive," he said Monday.
His mother, Patricia, who has been diagnosed with cancer, said what was supposed to be a celebration of a milestone has turned into a nightmare. Her son would be the first in the family to attend college.
The accusations have been "emotionally devastating to me and to Alex," the single mother wrote in a declaration for court.
Ochoa, who turns 18 on Friday, denies altering any grades. He was suspended May 12 and expulsion proceedings were initiated seven days later after Elk Grove Unified School District officials said he changed his grades and the grades of more than three dozen other students by accessing the school computer with a teacher's password.
Deputy District Attorney Sue Wilson, who is reviewing Ochoa's case for possible criminal charges, said the investigation is ongoing. "There is evidence that points to him,
. . . "No other person who had grades changed between the two years had ASB both years," the incident report states of Ochoa, who was president of his sophomore class.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
I guess if I were the judge, I'd want to see just what evidence implicates this student...
Changed his grades? From failing to passing? Or better grades to get him into college or a better college?
Sounds like cheating to me.
Read the story. With the changes his GPA dropped from 3.96 to 3.76.
Yeah, I buy that he did that.
Isn't this person judged innocent until proven guilty?
Errrr, well, see, my highschool hired me to run the database, while I was a student, and, um...
I'd ask for the same thing. They need to have some proof that he actually did it, and they should be glad to share evidence if they had it. It's just too easy to set up a hack to look like someone else did it...
Well, I used Bugmenot to log in and read the entire story and I have to tell you, it sounds more like a witch hunt by the local DA to me. Reading the article indicates the DA has prosecuted other kids at other schools for this and seems to be after someone at this school. Based on what was in the story, it all seems circumstancial at best, with the kid having over 100 other students vouching for him, as well as teachers. They even state the kid's GPA went DOWN this year and he passed a lie detector test administered by a retired cop.
Now, I don't want people to pile on me for defending some kid who did somethign wrong, because I am not. We don't know what happened and supposedly they came about the conclusion that he did it because he was the only student involved with some organization as an officer for 2 years. Apparently, being an officer allows you to have access to the school's computer system and a teacher's password. Many other kids had the same access as he did and the only two who accused him of changing the grades have recanted and admitted they lied.
I think the bigger issue here is that the kid accepted a scholarship based on hardship, passing up a better athletic one, and now that is in jeopardy. If I were him, I would be pretty adament about defending my honor, too.
Something I fantasized about doing when I was in HS! :)
Bueller.... Bueller.... Bueller...........................
If he is guilty then prove it
If he is guilty then throw the book at him..
If he is innocent he should get a nice scholarship
for he and his mom's 'pain and suffering'
Evidence "pointing" to him and him actually being proven guilty are two very different things. High school graduation comes only once in a kid's life; if the school is wrong, there's no way to give that night back to him. If it turns out he did cheat, it can be easily dealt with later.
I had my graduation ceremony taken away from me, over a stupid prank, by a vindictive principal who then went ahead and allowed several jocks who had been caught in some criminal activity at about the same time to go through commencement anyway. That still hurts and it's been over forty years. Mostly, I feel bad that my folks had to miss it. It really is for them as much as for the students.
Call me a Luddite. But don't his teachers have a paper trail to show that his grades are properly reflected in the computer?
Haven't heard about this case...friends have kids who are graduating there this evening. Will check around and post what I find, if anything.
Government schools are evil.
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