Alleged SAT exam breach probed

National administrators of the SAT college-entrance exam confirmed Monday that they are investigating an alleged breach of testing security involving a group of students from John L. Miller-Great Neck North High School.

Great Neck officials, who are cooperating with the investigation, said 12th graders and younger students are alleged to have paid a college student to take the SAT for them. The number of students was unclear Monday.

Thomas P. Dolan, the district superintendent, said although he could not discuss the specifics of student disciplinary cases. "My personal reaction is that cheating on any test is inappropriate, and students who make that mistake need to have appropriate action taken."

Great Neck North is consistently rated as one of the nation's top academic high schools, with alumni including David Baltimore, a Nobel Prize-winning biologist; filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola; and Sarah Hughes, an Olympic gold medalist in figure skating.

The Educational Testing Service of Princeton, N.J., which administers the SAT, has been looking into allegations of cheating for several weeks, according to school officials.

Tom Ewing, a spokesman for the testing agency, said the investigation was continuing and that no disciplinary action has yet been taken.

Ewing said the alleged security breach did not occur at either of Great Neck's two high schools, but rather at another site he declined to identify.

"The school [Great Neck North] does, in fact, administer the tests carefully and follows all rules and guidelines," Ewing said.

Principal Bernard Kaplan declined to comment on the case, except to say that any allegations of cheating would be investigated "to the fullest extent."

The SAT is the college-admissions exam most frequently used by teens on Long Island and other East Coast areas. Test-takers are required to show a photo identification provided by their school or a government agency, a handwriting sample and an admission ticket.

Great Neck's two high schools serve as SAT testing centers for their own students as well students from nearby districts. About 300 teens took the latest SAT at Great Neck North on Saturday.

One Great Neck North student representative, senior Alexander Schiffer, 17, wrote that knowledge of the alleged cheating was widespread among students and that some who have been accused were friends.

However, Schiffer wrote at a board meeting Monday night, "The general reaction regarding the cheating is anger and disgust. Students from our school, we take pride in academics, we love to learn. We are ashamed that such few are representing Great Neck in a bad light."