When a high school student in Massachusetts is accused of academic misconduct, it can have a dramatic effect on your child's ability to attend the college or university of their choice. Academic misconduct charges can include cheating on an exam, using unauthorized internet resources, plagiarism, cheating on College Board assessments, the SAT, SAT subject matter exams, AP exams.
It is crucial that your high school student is afforded their due process rights, that the charges are clearly defined, that the process used to investigate the charges is fair and that any resolution or sanction is proportionate and appropriate to the offense. In particular, interacting with the College Board requires a detailed understanding of the process to achieve the best possible outcome. The College Board takes misconduct extremely seriously and often acts with a heavy hand in imposing sanctions.
An experienced attorney advisor will be your high school student's best ally in defending against academic misconduct charges, and they should be involved from as early as possible in the case.
Massachusetts high schools where Joseph D. Lento can help as your child's student's academic misconduct advisor during investigations, hearings and appeals include, but are not limited to, the following school districts:
A
- Abington School Department
- Acton School Department
- Acton-Boxborough Regional School District
- Acushnet School Department
- Adams-Cheshire Regional School District
- Agawam School Department
- Amesbury School Department
- Amherst School Department
- Amherst-Pelham Regional School District
- Andover School Department
- Arlington School Department
- Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School District
- Ashland School Department
- Athol-Royalston Regional School District
- Attleborough School Department
- Auburn School Department
- Avon School Department
- Ayer School Department
B
- Barnstable School Department
- Bedford School Department
- Belchertown School Department
- Bellingham School Department
- Berkley School Department
- Berlin School Department
- Berlin-Boylston Regional School District
- Beverly School Department
- Billerica School Department
- Blackstone-Millville Regional School District
- Boston Public Schools
- Bourne School Department
- Boylston School Department
- Braintree School Department
- Brewster School Department
- Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District
- Brockton Public Schools
- Brookfield School Department
- Brookline School Department
- Burlington School Department
C
- Cambridge School Department
- Canton School Department
- Carlisle School Department
- Carver School Department
- Central Berkshire Regional School District
- Chatham School Department
- Chelmsford School Department
- Chelsea School Department
- Chesterfield-Goshen Regional School District
- Chicopee School Department
- Clarksburg School Department
- Clinton School Department
- Cohasset School Department
- Concord School Department
- Concord-Carlisle Regional School District
- Conway School Department
D
- Danvers School Department
- Dartmouth School Department
- Dedham School Department
- Deerfield School Department
- Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District
- Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School District
- Douglas School Department
- Dover School Department
- Dover-Sherborn Regional School District
- Dracut School Department
- Dudley-Charlton Regional School District
- Duxbury School Department
E
- East Bridgewater School Department
- East Longmeadow School Department
- Eastham School Department
- Easthampton School Department
- Easton School Department
- Edgartown School Department
- Erving School Department
- Everett School Department
F
- Fairhaven School Department
- Fall River Public Schools
- Falmouth School Department
- Farmington River Regional School District
- Fitchburg School Department
- Florida School Department
- Foxborough School Department
- Framingham School Department
- Franklin School Department
- Freetown School Department
- Freetown-Lakeville Regional School District
- Frontier Regional School District
G
- Gardner School Department
- Gateway Regional School District
- Georgetown School Department
- Gill-Montague Regional School District
- Gloucester School Department
- Gosnold School Department
- Grafton School Department
- Granby School Department
- Granville School Department
- Greenfield School Department
- Groton-Dunstable Regional School District
H
- Hadley School Department
- Halifax School Department
- Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District
- Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District
- Hampshire Regional School District
- Hancock School Department
- Hanover School Department
- Harvard School Department
- Harwich School Department
- Hatfield School Department
- Haverhill Public Schools
- Hawlemont Regional School District
- Hingham School Department
- Holbrook School Department
- Holland School Department
- Holliston School Department
- Holyoke School Department
- Hopedale School Department
- Hopkinton School Department
- Hudson School Department
- Hull School Department
I
- Ipswich School Department
K
- King Philip Regional School District
- Kingston School Department
L
- Lakeville School Department
- Lanesborough School Department
- Lawrence Public Schools
- Lee School Department
- Leicester School Department
- Lenox School Department
- Leominster School Department
- Leverett School Department
- Lexington School Department
- Lincoln School Department
- Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School District
- Littleton School Department
- Longmeadow School Department
- Lowell Public Schools
- Ludlow School Department
- Lunenburg School Department
- Lynn Public Schools
- Lynnfield School Department
M
- Malden School Department
- Manchester-Essex Regional School District
- Mansfield School Department
- Marblehead School Department
- Marion School Department
- Marlborough School Department
- Marshfield School Department
- Martha's Vineyard Regional School District
- Masconomet Regional School District
- Mashpee School Department
- Mattapoisett School Department
- Maynard School Department
- Medfield School Department
- Medford School Department
- Medway School Department
- Melrose School Department
- Mendon-Upton Regional School District
- Methuen Public Schools
- Middleborough School Department
- Middleton School Department
- Milford School Department
- Millbury School Department
- Millis School Department
- Milton School Department
- Mohawk Trail Regional School District
- Monson School Department
- Mount Greylock Regional School District
N
- Nahant School Department
- Nantucket School Department
- Narragansett Regional School District
- Nashoba Regional School District
- Natick School Department
- Nauset Regional School District
- Needham School Department
- New Bedford Public Schools
- New Salem-Wendell Regional School District
- Newburyport School Department
- Newton Public Schools
- North Attleborough School Department
- North Middlesex Regional School District
- North Reading School Department
- Northampton School Department
- Northborough School Department
- Northborough-Southborough Regional School District
- Northbridge School Department
- Norton School Department
- Norwood School Department
O
- Oak Bluffs School Department
- Old Rochester Regional School District
- Orange School Department
- Orleans School Department
- Oxford School Department
P
- Palmer School Department
- Peabody School Department
- Pelham School Department
- Pembroke School Department
- Pentucket Regional School District
- Petersham School Department
- Pioneer Valley Regional School District
- Pittsfield School Department
- Plainville School Department
- Plymouth School Department
- Plympton School Department
- Provincetown School Department
Q
- Quabbin Regional School District
- Quaboag Regional School District
- Quincy Public Schools
R
- Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District
- Randolph School Department
- Reading School Department
- Revere School Department
- Richmond School Department
- Rochester School Department
- Rockland School Department
- Rockport School Department
- Rowe School Department
S
- Salem School Department
- Sandwich School Department
- Saugus School Department
- Savoy School Department
- Scituate School Department
- Seekonk Public Schools
- Sharon School Department
- Sherborn School Department
- Shirley School Department
- Shrewsbury Public Schools
- Shutesbury School Department
- Somerset School Department
- Somerville School Department
- Southampton School Department
- Southborough School Department
- Southbridge School Department
- Southern Berkshire Regional School District
- Southwick-Tolland Regional School District
- Spencer-East Brookfield Regional School District
- Springfield Public Schools
- Stoneham School Department
- Stoughton School Department
- Sturbridge School Department
- Sudbury Public Schools
- Sunderland School Department
- Sutton School Department
- Swampscott School Department
- Swansea School Department
T
- Tantasqua Regional School District
- Taunton School Department
- Tewksbury School Department
- Tisbury School Department
- Topsfield School Department
- Triton Regional School District
- Truro School Department
U
- Up-Island Regional School District
- Uxbridge School Department
W
- Wachusett Regional School District
- Wakefield School Department
- Wales School Department
- Walpole School Department
- Waltham School Department
- Ware School Department
- Wareham School Department
- Watertown School Department
- Wayland School Department
- Webster School Department
- Wellesley School Department
- Wellfleet School Department
- West Boylston School Department
- West Bridgewater School Department
- West Springfield School Department
- Westborough Public Schools
- Westfield School Department
- Westford School Department
- Westhampton School Department
- Weston School Department
- Westport School Department
- Westwood School Department
- Weymouth School Department
- Whately School Department
- Whitman-Hanson Regional School District
- Williamsburg School Department
- Williamstown School Department
- Wilmington School Department
- Winchendon School Department
- Winchester School Department
- Winthrop School Department
- Woburn School Department
- Worcester Public Schools
- Wrentham School Department
It is critical to make certain academic misconduct charges at your child's Massachusetts high school are handled properly and that the accused student's interests and rights are protected from as early as possible during the investigative and disciplinary process. One reason, among many, is because even at high schools where a finding of responsibility for academic misconduct is made at a hearing, the investigation will set the stage for what the hearing panel is provided prior to a hearing (and what the hearing panel will in large part rely on at a hearing), and at high schools where the finding of responsibility is made solely through the investigative process, what takes place during the investigation itself will determine whether the accused student is found responsible or not responsible for academic misconduct.
Unfortunately, some parents make the mistake of not taking the necessary precautions as soon as possible when their child is accused of academic misconduct. Some people will mistakenly believe that if they "just explain what happened," their school will be fair and impartial and will arrive at the truth. In a perfect world this may be the case, but in a perfect world, being called to answer for alleged academic misconduct would not exist.
Fighting passionately for the future of his clients at schools throughout the nation for many years, Joseph D. Lento knows how important it is to mount the strongest defense because he understands that an accused high school student's academic future is on the line. He does not settle for the easiest outcome, and instead prioritizes his clients' needs and well-being. Joseph Lento is a licensed attorney in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, is admitted as an attorney pro hac vice in state and federal court if needed when representing clients nationwide, and serves as an academic misconduct advisor to high school students facing investigations and disciplinary cases in Massachusetts and throughout the nation. Make certain your or your student's interests are protected - Contact National High School Academic Misconduct Defense Attorney Joseph D. Lento today at 888-535-3686 or by completing our online form.