Story Archive

Dishonored

When he was admitted to an Honors-level English class, Jack Berghouse’s son signed an “Academic Honesty Pledge” that notes that cheating is grounds for immediate removal from the program. His mother signed it too. So when the unnamed sophomore was caught copying another student’s homework, he was sent back to a regular English class. His father, an attorney, has therefore sued the principal of Sequoia High School in Redwood City, Calif., the superintendent, and the school district, claiming the boy’s “due process rights” were violated. “I’m doing this for the other kids at Sequoia,” Berghouse said, allegedly with a straight face. The suit demands the school be forced to put the boy back into the Honors class. “There is the possibility this will cause permanent harm,” Berghouse claims. “What university will it keep him out of? Will that have far-ranging consequences in what kind of job he can get?” Once the suit was made public, parents were outraged. “I’m getting a lot of hate calls at my office,” Berghouse said. “I had no freaking idea this would happen.” (RC/San Jose Mercury News) ...“No freaking idea” sounds like a good summary of the man in general.