<p>This is from the Carrboro newspaper:</p>
<p>"Chapel Hill High School Principal Jackie Ellis said school officials are investigating a cheating incident that students say involved a stolen master key and that dates back several years.</p>
<p>Four Chapel Hill High School students will be suspended and receive zeros on mid-term exams as a result of an incident in which a student took pictures of exam answers on a camera phone and emailed them to other students. While investigating the incident, Ellis said students told officials about a master key to the school that was stolen a number of years ago.</p>
<p>When one cheating incident was uncovered, a tip led to others with master keys, Ellis said. School officials do not know the last time students used the key, but the cheating incident was discovered last week.</p>
<p>We have a couple of students who we 100-percent-certain know had access to the building with a master key, Ellis said, adding that school officials are investigating allegations that more students were involved and had keys. According to Ellis, students have said the key was stolen several years ago and has been passed down as students graduated. She said officials might approach graduates regarding the allegations.</p>
<p>According to Stephanie Knott, assistant superintendent for community relations with Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, the school district is treating it as an isolated incident because they lack evidence that more students were involved.</p>
<p>The district held a press conference about the incident Tuesday afternoon, but Knott was the only district official to attend.</p>
<p>Were concerned about the reputation of the school, of the students, of the district, Knott said. There are so many instances of students who perform so well, who do so many things, and they do it the right way.</p>
<p>Ellis said she did not know why these particular students felt the need to cheat, but she knows that there is pressure in the schools competitive environment.</p>
<p>I know what the research says about high schools cheating. I know what the research says about the pressure of students doing well, she said. Were in a society now thats highly competitive.</p>
<p>Do I think that students feel pressure to get into the best, most competitive schools? Yes I do, she continued. I would say that for the most part, I think kids opt to cheat to gain an advantage to do better.</p>
<p>Ellis said the response from the student body has been mixed.</p>
<p>Some [of the students] are very angry. Some are very sad. Its been unfortunate that
theres been a divide, Ellis said. Part of the senior class, they feel that there is a negative reflection on their class and that people will remember their class as the class involved in the cheating incident with the master key.</p>
<p>Ellis said the school is required to notify colleges of any cheating if the schools request a final report on students at the end of the school year.</p>
<p>Some teachers have revoked their recommendation letters, Ellis said.</p>
<p>Lynn Lehman, a parent of a student at Chapel Hill High and vice president of the schools Parent-Teacher-Student Association, said in an email response to inquiries from The Citizen that she hopes the school community will learn from the incident.</p>
<p>Our community is competitive, and our students feel that, Lehman said. As seniors, they are experiencing probably the most conflicting time of their young lives. They are feeling like they have to have it all figured out. They want to please their parents. They want to be loyal to their friends. But we need to remember that they are still kids.</p>
<p>Lehman said she was concerned about the privacy of the students involved and the morale at the school.</p>
<p>It is hard to improve the morale at the school when the TV camera trucks are parking outside and the rumors are flying, she said.</p>
<p>Ellis said students and teachers are discussing cheating and integrity in their homeroom classes and will discuss the incident in their English classes next week. She added that the school earlier this year formed an honor and integrity committee to develop plans to curb cheating at the school.</p>
<p>Student government requested an assembly to discuss the incident, but Ellis said she wants to wait until things settle down before meeting with the entire student body."</p>