http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-school-computer-hackers-021210-20100211,0,7957216.storyThe Broward School District said it has found "several security breaches" with school computer systems, and is investigating whether students at multiple schools hacked into computers to change grades and show work was completed when it wasn't.
"We're not sure how many [schools], if it's one, if it's two," district spokeswoman Nadine Drew said Thursday. "It appears to be more than one."
Drew said they aren't sure how many students were involved, or when it started. She declined to name the schools involved, but officials from the Broward Teachers Union said they heard complaints from employees at Seagull School Center in Fort Lauderdale, South Plantation High School in Plantation, Nova High School in Davie and Miramar High School.
The district's special investigative unit launched the investigation at the behest of the teachers' union, which said it received complaints from employees that students broke into the district's online APEX Learning System. Once in the system, union officials say students allegedly gained access to teacher passwords and sold that information to other students, charging up to $100 for each grade change, or trading the information for sex and drugs.
APEX is a computer system many school districts use to allow students to take courses online, at their own pace, so they can graduate on time. The alleged grade changes were noticed when students started receiving grades "at a pace that would be impossible for them to complete the course work," according to the teachers' union.
Union officials said teachers and principals knew about the alleged grade tampering but didn't report it for fear of retaliation by district officials.
The case emerges just as the district's last high-profile grade tampering case was settled last month. In 2006, Ryan C. Shrouder — then senior class president at Cooper City High School and an alternate student adviser to the Broward School Board — was arrested for using his district-issued laptop to boost his own grades and change grades for 19 students. Originally charged with two felonies, Shrouder pleaded no contest in January to a first-degree misdemeanor.
He'll serve six months of non-reporting probation, perform 20 hours of community service, pay a $500 fine to the school district and write a letter of apology. Shrouder is now a student at the University of Florida.
Topic: Broward School District investigates computer hacking (Read 450 times)