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Senior suspended after changing peers' attendance records for a fee

ATLANTA — Atlanta Public School officials said a high school senior admitted he changed attendance records and schedules for more than a dozen of his classmates.

Channels 2's Dave Huddleston found out the student has been suspended, but he's not the only one in his family in trouble with APS.

Parents and students told Huddleston the student, who attends Washington High, changed the attendance record or class schedule for $5 a person.

Huddleston received the tip from a viewer email.

School officials confirmed from February to April, the Washington High senior wiped clean 18 classmates' poor attendance records.

"That's a lot. That's too many, and how did he get access to the information?" parent Keesha Walker said. "His dad's a counselor here at the school."

"That means security is lax here, you know did he steal it from his dad," parent Chaketa Brittain.

District officials said they don't know if the boy stole the information or if his father had the confidential computer username and password unprotected.

The student has been suspended for seven days.

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Atlanta Public School officials said not only is the student in trouble, but so is the parent for not safeguarding their password.

"The fact is, you're supposed to safeguard your access information into the student database, so there may be some repercussions from that," APS spokeman Keith Bromery said.

There will also be a tribunal to determine if the student, who pocketed $90 from changing student records, should be expelled.

The 18 students who had their records changed have been suspended for three days.