The Newfoundland and Labrador English School District is examining its security more closely after students at Exploits Valley High in Grand Falls-Windsor got into the school with a key and took copies of exams for all grade levels.
“What happened was unfortunate. The students got access to one of our keys,” Andrew Hickey, acting assistant director of education for Central region programs, told The Central Voice. “We do have heightened security and we will reinforce our security with respect to video surveillance and school security systems.”
The exams taken were then used by a number of students to get a higher grade. Coincidentally, the district will be tracking test scores and flagging any students with significant spikes in their grades.
A number of students who admitted to having seen the stolen exams have already come forward. They were granted amnesty by the district for their honesty.
“We’ve had students take tests before from teachers, but on this sort of scale where mid-year exams were compromised, this is new to us,” said Hickey.
The districts believe less than 40 of the 450 students at Exploits Valley High had seen the stolen exams.
While the district has released exam marks for the students, RCMP say investigation into the incident is ongoing.
