Honor Society Ousts Students for Cheating

Thirteen top students at Sunny Hills High School, ranked academically among the highest in California, have been booted out of the National Honor Society for cheating in a philosophy course, school officials said Wednesday.

The 13, including the president, vice president and treasurer of the school’s chapter of the honor society, were among 20 or more students found to have copied homework in a senior honors class called Theory of Knowledge.

All of the students received a grade of 0 on the assignment and a note in their student record. Their parents also were notified.

“It’s a serious issue because it brings to the forefront that on our campus, which is so competitive, you’re going to see some cheating,” said Cynthia Martini, a counselor at the Fullerton school. “Many students feel pressure to compete at the highest level.”

Sunny Hills has a stellar academic reputation and historically had a dropout rate of 0. Already this year, three students have been admitted to Harvard, one to Yale and one to Stanford.

The incident arose in February, when students were assigned to review 10 texts on scientific theory and write an outline summarizing their reading. The students involved apparently divided the work among themselves and copied whole sections from one another, Martini said.

The honor society last month dropped the 13 students who were members. Traditionally, honor society members, who are chosen for their high grades and leadership, are given special recognition at graduation, wearing gold and blue cords with their cap and gown. The society’s rules call for dropping students on their first cheating offense.

One of the 13 kicked out said that at first he thought the punishment was fair, but now thinks it was too harsh. “I really don’t believe the punishment is on par with, say, copying a test,” the senior said.

Principal Loring Davies declined to release the names of the students involved, citing privacy concerns.

In recent years, Sunny Hills has made news for a string of tragic or notorious events. Last October, two students died in a car accident while apparently on their way to the school’s homecoming dance.

In 1994, a former candidate for valedictorian at Sunny Hills was sentenced to life in prison for masterminding the brutal slaying of a student at Foothill High.