Grade Hacking Lawsuit: Expelled Student Can Return To Glenbrook North

NORTHBROOK, IL — The lawsuit filed by the family of a Glenbrook North High School student who was expelled for his role in an April grade hacking scheme has been dismissed after coming to an agreement with the Board of Education of District 225, according to court records. The student, a 15-year-old sophomore at the time, had been granted an injunction in May allowing him to return to classes while the suit proceeded. A spokesperson for the district said the student is expected to return to GBN when classes begin Aug. 23.

Three boys participated in the plot to obtain passwords from teachers to the PowerSchool online grading portal, according to a hearing officer's report to the board about the incident. The boy whose family sued, identified in court records as M.G., admitted to sending phishing emails to teacher directing them to a fake sign-in page but never managed to access any teachers' accounts or change any grades, the lawsuit said.

Administrators learned of the hack after a student told the dean that one of the people involved in the phishing scheme had sent her an image showing one of her math grades had been modified. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Northbrook — or your community. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Initially, he had been suspended for 10 days, but the school then decided to expel him after a hearing. During that hearing, he said he had been persuaded into sending the fake login link by one of the other students involved and only entered the teachers' logins "to prove [the other student] wrong."

"Based on the evidence, Student #1 is the most culpable because he actually hacked the system and encouraged [M.G.] and others to try to do so," wrote the hearing officer. "Student #2 is more culpable than [M.G.] because he, apparently, changed the female student's homework grade, which triggered the investigation. [M.G.] was unsuccessful in his attempts to enter the system, so, while he violated the policy, his involvement is less than the other two students."

The lawsuit argued that the teen's participation in the grade hacking was not so bad that it required expulsion and said state law required the district to consider less severe punishment. In fact, the school's disciplinary committee had recommended that the expulsion be temporary. It suggested that he should be expelled only until April 2018, with the chance to return to school during the second semester of next school year if he completed various requirements.

GBN administrators have not disclosed what discipline, if any, was meted out to the other two students involved. However, a spokesperson for District 225 said only one student was expelled during the 2016-2017 school year.

The hearing officer found the incident caused "substantial disruption" to the district, causing four employees to spend between 50 and 60 hours each to find the hack and determine what information had been compromised. The district does not keep records of the number of times its systems have been hacked or compromised, the spokesperson said.

A lawyer for the student deferred questions to his family, who did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment and information about whether M.G. would be returning to GBN later this month for his junior year.

No criminal charges have been filed in the incident, a district spokesperson confirmed. However, as an apparent violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the grade hacking could have resulted in prison time. Attempted transmission of information to damage a protected computer (attempting to enter a teacher's login) could be punished with a maximum sentence of 10 years, while conspiracy to transmit information to damage a protected computer (participating with the other two students in the scheme) carries with it a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison, according to the Department of Justice.

» More: GBN Student Expelled Over Grade Hacking Sues

Photo: Glenbrook North High School | via Patch archive