4 Teens Suspected of Altering Grades

Four students at Providence High School in Burbank are suspected of hacking into their school’s computer system and changing grades, police said Friday.

Burbank police arrested the boys, ages 16 to 17, at the private school’s administrative offices Thursday.

The high school juniors allegedly accessed the school system from locations on and off campus and changed their grades during a period of 30 to 45 days, said Lt. Kevin Krafft of the Burbank Police Department.

Grades for several dozen other students also were changed, but police don’t know if those students were aware of it, he said.

One suspect told police he wanted to attend a good college and altered grades in most of his classes, raising his grade point average from a 2.5 to over 4.0, Krafft said.

Another boy allegedly changed a poor mark in one subject to avoid summer school.

A teacher noticed a discrepancy in one of her students’ grades and told school officials, who began investigating, Krafft said.

Police said they seized computers from the boys’ homes. The students were released to their parents’ custody the same day.

The district attorney’s office will determine what charges will be filed, Krafft said. Accessing a computer system without authorization can be prosecuted as a felony or a misdemeanor, he said.