Late last September, news broke of a major SAT cheating incident in Long Island, NY. The incident involved a college student taking the SAT for several high school students in exchange for fees varying from one to two thousand dollars. The scandal attracted major media attention nationwide and resulted in the arrests of several of the students.

For CHS students taking the SAT, cheating is a factor that the school has little control over in terms of discipline. However, the College Board, the company which administers the standardized test, still has the authority to discipline cheating test takers.

Assistant Principal John Newton said, “If (students) got caught cheating on the SAT, they’d get kicked out and lose their money. It wouldn’t affect (CHS policy) unless there were some other things that went on.”

The College Board has very specific and strict rules on cheating that are repeated  by the proctor several times to students before the test is administered. Some of these policies include the ban of mobile phones and certain calculators. Due to the recent incident in Long Island, however, the College Board indicated its rules may become even stricter.

According to The New York Times, the College Board has hired a former FBI agent to revamp its security and cheating policies. Future changes to the test may include requiring students to take a digital photograph at the testing center to confirm identities.

Junior Chandler Waugh said that while she disapproves of cheating, she believes the SAT’s potential new policies are excessive.

“Most kids who take the SAT don’t cheat and don’t hire people to take it for them,” Waugh said. “Having to (have high security) with everyone is just unnecessary. It’s such a rare occasion that it doesn’t warrant the extra effort.”

According to Newton, an arrest, as in the Long Island incident, is not something a student would typically face for cheating on the SAT. In the Long Island incident, the college student had used false IDs to impersonate the high school students. The students, therefore, were arrested on charges of fraud, not cheating.

Newton said that using a false ID on the SAT at CHS would result in a punishment, but something less severe.

“If you made a fake ID, that’s giving false information,” Newton said. “If you were cheating and you made a false ID, now we can give you (a punishment) for the false ID…and that would be some form of a suspension.”

While cheating on the SAT is something the school has very little control over, cheating on other school tests is something that the school can discipline students for.

Waugh said she had an experience with cheating when a classmate tried to cheat off of her test in chemistry class last year. Waugh said she did not allow the classmate to do so and feels very strongly about cheating.

“Cheating gives other people an unfair advantage over other people,” Waugh said. “You haven’t done the work, so (cheating) doesn’t give an honest measure of how much you know, which is not fair.”

According to Newton, the current cheating discipline policy will most likely change for next year to further prevent cheating.

Currently, the school-wide discipline for cheating on tests varies, but it usually results in a grade of zero percent on that test.

“If (students) were cheating on the test, as it stands now, the department would determine what would happen,” Newton said. “Most teachers would give them a zero, and that’s where they would be.”

The policy for cheating next year, however, will involve the suspension of students who cheat while allowing them to re-take the tests they cheated on with no grade penalty.

“You’re going to get a discipline for cheating, but then you get a chance to take the test,” Newton said. “We still want to know what you know, and we don’t want to impact your grade. You might be suspended, but you still get to take the test.”

Waugh said she thinks the tentative policy concerning cheating for next year will be much stricter.

“With a zero (as a penalty) you have more of a chance of making (your grade) up, versus a suspension which goes on your permanent record, and when you apply for colleges, all colleges see it,” Waugh said.

Although some people might consider the new policy strict, Newton said the high temptations students face to excel require the aforementioned cheating policy to remain strong.

“It’s tougher to get into schools now, and students want the highest grades and test scores that they can possibly get, and I think that there’s a big push,” Newton said.

Despite the temptation to cheat, Newton said students should maintain their morals when it comes to cheating on tests, especially on a major test like the SAT which can be a large factor in acceptance to colleges.

“I think cheating is stealing. It’s getting into schools when (students) didn’t earn the right to. It’s just kind of a morality thing, it’s just something you shouldn’t do,” Newton said. “If you’re going to go to school, go on your own merit. Not because you cheated to get in.”