KANSAS CITY, KAN. — A Piper High School teacher has resigned after the school board forced her to change the grades of students she suspected of plagiarizing a class project.
"I was really shocked at what their decision was," Christine Pelton said Monday. "They didn't even talk to me or ask my side."
Board President Chris McCord said he could not comment on the board's handling of the matter.
"I wish I could tell everybody everything about it, but I can't as a board member because it is a situation that involves identifiable students and personnel, and it is an executive session matter," McCord said Tuesday.
The board discussed the matter behind closed doors Dec. 11 on the advice of its lawyer, McCord said. It did not take any vote during the session, he said, and therefore did not announce any decision in public afterward.
Pelton said she suspected plagiarism because some reports contained identical material. She then ran the papers through a computer program that detects whether a paragraph or page is plagiarized from sources on the Internet.
Pelton said she thought the 28 sophomores shouldn't get any credit for their work, and therefore should flunk her biology class.
After several parents complained, however, the Piper school board decided students should get partial credit.
Pelton resigned the next day.
District Supt. Michael Rooney said he stood by the teacher, although that doesn't mean he thought the board did anything wrong.
"I take orders as does everyone else, and the Board of Education is empowered with making the final decisions in the school district," he said.
The students who plagiarized were among 118 whom Pelton taught during the day. Pelton said the project has been assigned to Piper High biology students for 10 years. The students were required to collect and study 20 leaves, write two paragraphs about each leaf and deliver an oral presentation.
Rooney said students were advised in writing during the first week of classes that a report on tree leaves would be required and that it would count as 50 percent of their grade. The students also were told that anyone who plagiarized would receive no credit.
Rooney said most parents who complained said they did not think plagiarism occurred or thought it was unintentional.
Pelton said Rooney asked her to stay.
"I just couldn't," said Pelton, 26, who has an education degree from Kansas University and was in her second year at Piper, which has about 450 students.
"I went to my class and tried to teach the kids, but they were whooping and hollering and saying, 'We don't have to listen to you any more."'
Pelton said she told Rooney she could no longer work for a district that did not support her. She is now preparing to open a day-care facility in her home.
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.