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11 Students Expelled In Corona Del Mar HS Cheating Scandal

NEWPORT BEACH (CBSLA.com) — A cheating scandal has led to the expulsion of 11 high school students in Orange County.

The disciplinary action came late Tuesday night at a closed-door Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Education meeting.

The unidentified students were accused in December of hacking into computers to change grades and access tests at Corona Del Mar High School in Newport Beach.

"The Board's action imposes discipline upon these students for the maximum allowed by the Education Code for what occurred at Corona del Mar High School," Board President Karen Yelsey said in a statement.

11 Students Expelled In Corona Del Mar HS Cheating Scandal

The school announced earlier this month that they had launched an audit of 750,000 grades to determine how many grades might have been changed.

"I don't feel like these children will learn or grow from their mistakes unless they're held accountable for that," parent Leslie Bibb said.

Parents of the expelled students say their children were "thrown to the wolves" and that the scandal actually involved more than 100 students. Private tutor Timothy Lai was also accused of helping the accused students hack into computers and manipulate grades.

"My understanding is that many of the students did not cheat, except they went to the tutor and they were aware of others cheating," parent Randy Zuckerman said.

Lai is wanted by police for questioning, but has been missing since detectives showed up at his Irvine home with a search warrant on Dec. 18.

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