(Updated procedures – 2-4-10) 

Bainbridge High School Academic Honesty Policy -

Honesty is a compelling principle by which we operate all aspects of student and school life. Academic honesty is highly valued at Bainbridge High School. Students should not cheat or plagiarize, nor should they tolerate this behavior among fellow students. Therefore, students do not receive credit for work that is not their own. Cheating is defined as an attempt to earn credit or receive a grade for coursework in a manner other than defined as acceptable by the teacher. Plagiarism is the taking of language, ideas or thoughts from another person or resource without acknowledging the source. Students who use plagiarized papers or projects or are involved in any other form of cheating will be subject to reduction in grades and/or disciplinary action for a first offense. Because of the serious nature of academic honesty, violations of this code may result in loss of credit for the assignment with a recorded failing grade, removal from the course with a failing grade, and/or additional appropriate disciplinary action.

Staff/School Response to Academic Honesty Infractions -

In responding to issues involving academic honesty it is very important for the teacher to communicate a clear message to the student that is consistent with our school academic honesty expectations. In addition, our effectiveness in responding to academic honesty issues will be enhanced when clear communication occurs between the teacher and the appropriate administrative and counseling staff members. The expected staff/administration response to academic honesty issues is as follows:

1. The teacher is expected to determine the initial response/consequence for the first infraction. A typical “first incident” response would include loss of credit for the assignment and contact with the student’s parent. Depending on the nature of the incident, the teacher is encouraged to consult with the associate principal and/or counselor in determining appropriate consequences. If the student has been involved in more than one academic honesty issue in the specific class, the teacher should definitely be consulting with the appropriate associate principal prior to determining the consequence for the infraction.

2. The teacher is expected to document all academic honesty infractions by sending an email to the student’s associate principal and counselor. In the email, the teacher should provide a brief description of the incident, the action taken and any support or action requested of the administrator or counselor.

3. The student’s associate principal and counselor will maintain a confidential record of all academic honesty incidents. Upon receipt of an incident report, the associate principal will check to determine if the student has been involved in any other academic honesty incidents. If there is more than one incident on file for the student, the associate principal will consult with the student’s counselor and/or teachers to determine if a staffing or some other action should take place to review the history of incidents and to determine if additional disciplinary and/or counseling intervention is needed.