CdM family pushes for appeal in cheating scandal

A Corona del Mar family whose child was allegedly involved in the cheating scandal at the high school continues to demand that the Orange County board of education hear their appeal, even as other families have backed out of the process.

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District has settled with four of the five families who brought appeals to the Orange County Department of Education in February, alleging that the stipulated expulsion agreements they signed with the district were coerced, said Ron Wenkart, the attorney representing the county education board.

The Orange County Department of Education filed a lawsuit against the Newport-Mesa district and the five families in March to force a judicial determination regarding whether the board has the authority to hear the students’ appeals.

“At this point, four families have settled with the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and they are no longer part of the litigation,” Wenkart wrote in an email. “We are hopeful that the remaining family will settle with the school district in the near future.”

Wenkart will update county trustees on the status of the lawsuit during the closed-session portion of the board’s May 14 meeting.

In January, 11 juniors and seniors signed expulsion agreements that prohibited them from returning to Corona del Mar High this school year but allowed them to transfer to another Newport-Mesa Unified school. The stipulated expulsions also barred the students from participating in extracurricular activities like athletics or prom — an aspect that several of the families believe is unfair.

Faced with mounting legal costs, Newport-Mesa agreed to change “sealed and destroyed” to “expunged” in connection with the students’ records after graduation and to clarify language in the document with regard to the students’ return to CdM at the end of the school year.

District officials have maintained that the agreements are legal and the district had sufficient evidence to expel the students.

Authorities believe that with the help of Timothy Lance Lai, a private tutor from Irvine, the students were able to place keylogging devices on the back of teachers’ computers to swipe logins and passwords necessary to change grades and access exams.

Police have been unable to locate Lai since the case became public in December.

The Orange County district attorney’s office is currently reviewing the case to decide whether to file charges against Lai, said spokeswoman Farrah Emami.

The district attorney’s office doesn’t have to file charges within a specific amount of time because Lai has not been arrested, Emami said.