MCAS cheating claim proven false

PEABODY – Allegations of South Memorial fourth graders cheating on the recent MCAS exams were proven to be just that: allegations.Last week, an anonymous email was sent to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education stating that the Peabody elementary school allowed several students to stay after school to complete the MCAS exam. However, after both Superintendent Milton Burnett and the school?s principal Maryellen McGrath completed their investigations, it was confirmed that no such cheating occurred.McGrath said the writer of the anonymous email must have been mistaken as to what they witnessed the afternoon of March 25.?There was confusion about kids staying late,” she said yesterday in a phone interview. “We do have a scheduled MCAS preparation session from 3-4 p.m.. That?s where the confusion was.”McGrath said that the school offers a regularly scheduled after school MCAS preparation program for students who need extra help. She made it very clear that those students participating were indeed not taking the actual MCAS.However, two students taking the composition exam earlier in the day did take longer than the majority to finish their exam, but McGrath said that?s allowed since the test is un-timed.?They can take as long as needed,” she said.McGrath further explained that when students need extra time to complete an exam, they are moved to a separate room and supervised by a teacher. In this case, the teacher was a learning disability specialist.?The tests were accounted for at the close of the school day,” she said, adding that MCAS exams require high security measures, all of which were properly followed.School Committee member Dave McGeney said that several of his colleagues were upset over the incident during its discussion at Tuesday night?s meeting.?They were particularly vocal about how much harm those types of allegations can do to the system and personal reputation of teachers,” he said.McGeney said he was “very, very concerned” with the issue and took it very seriously, as it should have been.?I was pleased, but not surprised to hear that there was nothing to the rumor,” he said.A report of the investigation?s findings was given to all committee members and will soon be sent to the state department per their request.