Bryant HS ‘cheat’ wave in summer
Graduating from William Cullen Bryant HS in Queens is as easy as click, cut and paste.
In the past two years, hundreds of students have been assigned to summerschool classes where they can earn credit by browsing the Internet and plugging in answers for online tests.
“The answers are all over the Internet,” said Nabeel Khan, 18, a senior who took five online courses last summer for classes he failed but needed to graduate.
Under Department of Education rules, students may earn no more than three core academic credits from credit recovery throughout high school.
Khan admitted taking some shortcuts: “You basically cut and paste, change the words a little to make it your own, and you’re done.”
Out of Bryant’s 2,496 students last school year, about 900, or nearly 40 percent, were automatically enrolled in summer school because they failed one or more classes.
Less than half of them show up, with 434 attending last Thursday, according to the Department of Education. Teachers estimate about 250 attend.
Many sit in front of computer screens for online courses with no live teacher instruction, staff and students told The Post.
Students goof off, talk — and cheat, they say.
Some teachers “don’t care” about the plagiarism, Khan said. Some catch kids and tell them to stop, but don’t report it. Teachers simply monitor the program and answer questions if a student asks for help.
Under state rules, a summerschool class meant to make up for one a student failed must include at least 45 hours of instruction. But a Bryant student taking an English class this summer said some teachers spring those who complete the tasks early.
“If you finish all the work, you’re free to go because it’s summer,” he said.
Bryant math teacher Mary Boxoyan, who has supervised online courses given during Regents exam week, described a classroom gone wild.
“Kids would take out their phones and start Googling to get answers,” she said. “They didn’t want to do the reading. If they finished early, they would start talking and playing video games.
“The bottom line is, they’re not learning. They’re not becoming college or careerready. They’re just getting out of high school,” she added. “The administrators are trying to get as many students to graduate as they can.
“It’s a Mickey Mouse way of earning a credit.”