Cops: Mom Hacked School Computer, Changed Grades

Catherine Venusto used passwords obtained as district employee
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 19, 2012 1:29 PM CDT
Cops: Mom Hacked School Computer, Changed Grades
   (Shutterstock)

Well, that's one way to get them into college: A Pennsylvania woman allegedly changed her children's grades after logging into a school computer system using passwords obtained when she worked for the district. Investigators say Catherine Venusto used the Northwestern Lehigh School District superintendent's password to change the grades: She allegedly made one failing grade into a medical exception for her daughter in 2010, while still working for the district, then changed one of her son's grades, bizarrely, from 98% to 99% in February.

State police say Venusto admitted changing the grades, saying she thought her actions were unethical but not illegal. She was arraigned yesterday on a half-dozen felony counts and released on bail. (More Catherine Venusto stories.)

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