Are Peabody kids cheating on MCAS? MCAS?

PEABODY-A possible MCAS mishap is currently under full investigation by Peabody Superintendent Milton Burnett after an anonymous email arrived in the inbox of the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.According to the department?s spokesperson JC Considine, the email was sent by a parent.?The person is alleging that during the grade 4 MCAS at the South Memorial School, some students were allowed to stay after school to complete the writing test,” Considine said, adding that the test in question was most likely the composition exam, as that is given to all fourth grade students.Considine said the department wishes to keep the parent?s privacy protected and would not go into specifics about the content of the message.Burnett was contacted Tuesday just days after the email was sent and asked to conduct a local investigation.Burnett could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.?As you can imagine, the big thing we want to know is whether this is true or not,” said Considine.According to Considine, in most situations such as this, the superintendent will connect with the school?s principal and perhaps the test?s administrators to discover what happened and, if it happened, why.As the test was un-timed, Considine said that the irregularity could have been something as simple as an administrative error.Burnett has up to four weeks to conclude his investigation and report back to the department with his findings.?We?ll want to make sure questions we would have were answered by the superintendent,” said Considine.Although irregularities are nothing new to the department and can often be relatively small, each and every one of them is taken very seriously, he said.Not wanting to speculate too much, Considine said that if Burnett?s report does come back to prove that such “cheating” took place, the test would most likely not be re-administered. He said it?s too early to say what the consequences would be.?We?d have to see why it happened,” said Considine. “We have to wait for the investigation to run its course.”