This Won’t Look Good on the College Application
EmailPolice say three A’s and a B+ apparently weren’t good enough for the senior class president of Cooper City High School in Cooper City, Fla. Eighteen-year-old Ryan Shrouder was arrested at his school Tuesday, accused by authorities of using a school-issued computer to boost his grades and those of 19 other students. He was charged with two felony counts of computer crime that carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. Shrouder told ABCNews.com he is innocent and outraged that he was arrested during the school’s lunch hour and that police walked him out in front of "hundreds" of students and parents. THE BLOTTER RECOMMENDS Gates’ Unfinished Business: Racism at Texas A&M One Texas A&M Student Tries to Make Amends for Racially Charged Video Click Here for to Check Out Some Brian Ross Slideshows "I said, ‘Can you put the handcuffs on me once we get out?’ ‘Nope, we got to put them on you now.’ Behind your back, the whole nine yards," says Shrouder. "I felt like a murderer." Shrouder is a student advisor to the county school board and a member of the Sheriff Department’s Explorer police program. Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage. According to an arrest affidavit from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, Shrouder used a school district laptop computer assigned to him as a student advisor to access a special program, sign-on and password to change his grades and those of other students. The police report states that a student witnessed Shrouder using the computer to change grades, and school surveillance cameras corroborate the story by reportedly showing the student and Shrouder together on the day the grades were changed. According to the report, Shrouder’s grades were changed 21 times for the better. Shrouder calls the charges against him "inaccurate," and says that while "other students were involved," he was the only one arrested. "The accusations they’re making against me are 100 percent false," he says. "There’s a lot of loose ends, and we’re prepared to take it to court." Broward County School Board spokesperson Keith Bromery says three students are now suspended in the grade-changing investigation, and all three face possible expulsion. "We are treating this matter very seriously because these are vital records," Bromery told ABC News. "We need to maintain the integrity of the records because they stay with you for future applications." Shrouder has posted a $5,000 bond and says he will plead not guilty. He says he had planned to apply to Florida State University but can’t now because he says the school will not release his transcripts.
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Son, you know the old saying “you play, you pay. Others have to actually “earn” their grades the good old fashion way, STUDY.
Posted by: Brenda | December 14, 2006, 1:22 pm 1:22 pm
Oops!
Posted by: Joe | December 14, 2006, 1:37 pm 1:37 pm
“Outraged” because he was arrested during lunch at school? Being led away in handcuffs in front of his peers should be the least of Shrouder’s worries…
Posted by: DKS | December 14, 2006, 6:18 pm 6:18 pm
Cheating is widespread. It’s embarrassing. Winning at all costs (except putting the hard work in) permeates society today.
Here is a shocking example: I know of a mother who is a bright scientist working for a large company who is writing papers for her mediocre student son in college.
Posted by: Anonymous | December 15, 2006, 9:02 am 9:02 am
Was there no computer security policy setup so students can’t access that area of the system? And for such a smart(?) student to have to go back 21 times? Something is not as it seems…
Posted by: skidog | December 15, 2006, 11:47 am 11:47 am
Thank goodness this scam did not originate from Nigerian student. Other wise it would have been tagged ‘COLLEGES TARGETED BY NIGERIAN GRADE BOOSTER’
Posted by: Sam | December 15, 2006, 11:53 am 11:53 am
HE IS INNOCENT. I GO TO THIS SCHOOL AND I TELL YOU THAT IT WAS THE SCHOOL BOARDS FAULT. NOTHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO HIM AND HE ALREADY GOT ACCEPTED BY A COUPLE OF COLLEGES. WE ALL KNOW THAT HE IS NOT GOING TO GO TO JAIL. THE MOST HE’LL GET IS PROBATION.
Posted by: Mary | December 15, 2006, 7:37 pm 7:37 pm
How stupid can you be? I worked my butt off through high school and ended up with a scholarship and as a student council member at my college. It’s rediculous that someone who is in a government, role model position should shed such a dissapointing example to those around them.
Posted by: silly1 | December 15, 2006, 8:03 pm 8:03 pm
Innocent until proven guilty. Why a public arrest? Why not issue a warrant and ask someone to turn themselves in? Something is not meshing for me in this story, and I do not believe in ‘prove your innocence’. I believe you should prove someone is guilty. It’s too bad our country no longer feels like this is the appropriate way to handle our legal system. The ends DO NOT justify the means. Let’s teach our children that the legal system is set up to protect the innocent – not net the innocent to assure we catch the guilty. America 101.
Posted by: Kim | December 18, 2006, 2:38 pm 2:38 pm
“The accusations are totally false” and “I’m not the only one involved but the only one arrested” are mutually exclusive. The guy made a bad mistake but he does seem to have a solid record of accomplishment. What good does it do to “throw the towel at him” this way. If he had not been paraded while handcuffed (“the whole nine yards”) before his peers, perhaps he would have been more repentant for his mistakes.
Posted by: Prof. | December 18, 2006, 8:53 pm 8:53 pm
Class President he was. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Whenever anyone uses proclaims they are 100 innocent I am suspecious. Let’s have a trial.
Posted by: Lowell Bethel | December 18, 2006, 8:56 pm 8:56 pm
Kim, he hasn’t been proven guilty yet……thats we he is going to court……however there IS something called probable cause. This wasn’t just pulled out of the air. At first glance, I have a hard time believing this is one big mix up.
“Why not issue a warrant and ask someone to turn themselves in?” –Because people generally don’t like turning themselves in when they are facing 30 years in prison. Btw, our legal system was setup to ensure Justice-that of giving each man his due.
Posted by: Andrew | December 18, 2006, 10:39 pm 10:39 pm
It’s interesting that many of the comments here pretty much assume he’s guilty.
This kind of lemming mentality is frightening.
Posted by: bigbrother | December 18, 2006, 11:38 pm 11:38 pm
Ha Ha Smart Guy rich kid got caught and is gonna pull the liberal boo hoo why me I am so misunderstood routine.
On more college seat for a deserving student and one less floor sweeper job for someone hard working.
C’ya Loser !!!
Posted by: Tony | December 19, 2006, 12:03 am 12:03 am
Dear Mary and Kim,..
Booo Hooo. He got caught red handed and you defend him ?
Why a public arrest ? Because we don’t arrest people when it convenient to them. Oops, our 5 time murderer is having dinner with his mum and we should be considerate,…Buhahahahaa !!
You girls are stupid !!
Posted by: Tony | December 19, 2006, 12:16 am 12:16 am
Funny how the cops are all over someone possibly cheating, but when someone is murdered, raped, or mugged, the cops are never around when you need one.
Posted by: Rick, Atlanta, GA | December 19, 2006, 9:00 am 9:00 am
OK, if this kid did it, he deserves to lose any opportunity for a “funded” college education. If he was willing to change his grades, who is to say that any of his real work was actually his? Notice the big “IF’s”.
It is pretty appalling though that he is facing 30 years when our system regularly gives probation to sexual offenders!!
Posted by: Dave D | December 20, 2006, 11:34 am 11:34 am
This is not a good idea. Everyone has to work hard to earn grades. This is not fair for others. This school system is bad. How can someone get into the system to change grades that easy. I would never like to go to this school. Some schools officers need to be arrested too. I think!
Posted by: Boo | December 21, 2006, 1:28 pm 1:28 pm
I just think its sad how many people here already beleive he is guilty, whatever happened to “innocent until proven guilty.” YOu can still make the argument that you worked hard to get what you wanted, but don’t say he hasn’t until you A) know more and B) was proven guilty. Wouldn’t you want peopel to treat yout he same?
Posted by: ken | December 21, 2006, 1:48 pm 1:48 pm
Fry him and get it over with…
Posted by: Mairtan | December 21, 2006, 2:09 pm 2:09 pm
I did it, I changed the grades! You don’t really expect him to say that do you? Give him the trial, let the lawyers duke it out over brunch and give him what he deserves.
If he’s guilty, he’s guilty, if he’s not, he’s not and everyone needs to line up to kiss his ever loving typing hands that he used to change the grades in the first place.
Posted by: Jimmy | December 22, 2006, 11:42 am 11:42 am
There are a few points that bother me with this case. This student has allegedly changed his grades using a laptop requiring a username and password and the evidence we are presented with is as follows. A fellow student (probably a friend as he would probably hide this activity from a stranger) said he did it (one man’s word against another) and there is video evidence showing them together on the day of the event (not surprising to see two students who know each other hanging out every day let alone that specific day).
So, my question is why would he be arrested on such flimsy evidence when, if he did it, there should be evidence of him signing into the database and making changes (it says in the article that a username and password were required but does not say they have evidence of him using it). And the most obvious missed point is that his teachers should know what grades he earned and can illuminate us to whether or not they were changed.
I’m not saying he is guilty or innocent, and perhaps we do not know all of the details, but from what we do know according to the article above, this arrest seems to have occurred prematurely and is a stark example of today’s school system gone wrong (see articles relating to a 4 year old student being expelled in
November for sexual harassment after hugging his teacher’s aide).
Posted by: Pete S. | December 22, 2006, 12:41 pm 12:41 pm
According to some of your reactions above, you would have this student fried for his behavior as you worked so hard to get where you are. I doubt you are all so perfect as to have never done anything wrong in your life. To be honest, after seeing this crime comically performed in the 80’s movie War Games, I’m not surprised people still try to do this. But I will say, that imprisoning someone for thirty years for changing a grade without any proof of monetary gain, seems rather radical and not a fitting punishment. Expulsion from the school and being trotted out in front of everyone in handcuffs seems quite adequate given the circumstances as we know it.
Posted by: Pete S. | December 22, 2006, 1:32 pm 1:32 pm
We need more dumber kids in college and the workforce. Keep these A+ students at bay. Smart move on everybody’s part.
Posted by: Juan | December 22, 2006, 1:52 pm 1:52 pm
What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty. It’s amazing how now everyone is automatically guilty until they are proven innocent in court.
Even then people still doubt they are innocent. It’s a real shame.
Posted by: Danny | December 22, 2006, 2:32 pm 2:32 pm
I’ve got better things to do than comment on some stupid story.
Posted by: None | December 22, 2006, 3:01 pm 3:01 pm
Kids these day.
We used to change our grades on the computer in high school too, but we weren’t dumb enough to give ourselves all A’s and get caught.
Posted by: Old Schooler | December 22, 2006, 3:39 pm 3:39 pm
What he did wasn’t worth it. It is very easy to make an A in this country in the public school system. All he would have had to do was apply himself.
Posted by: fh | December 23, 2006, 11:31 am 11:31 am
I give Ryan an A++ for his ingenuity. At least he didn’t bend over for his A’s.
Posted by: Mickey | December 27, 2006, 2:14 pm 2:14 pm
I am sure this is not the first time that something like this has happened. It’s only now that it is being publicized. It is time for this type of behavior to be brought out in the open and dealt with publicly. Too bad for Ryan that he is the one who got caught, and now has to “pay the piper.”
Posted by: Tammy | December 28, 2006, 7:18 pm 7:18 pm
come on fellas,alot of important facts are missing…perhaps he beleived al gore(inventor of the internet)and thought he would get “stuck in iraq” if his grades weren’t high enough,perhaps he did not have a school funded breakfast and was light headed from lack of sugar,or perhaps at some point in his life mommy and daddy didnt show the required does of attention and suffers from post traumatic stress disorder(high school can be alot like combat remember) really all this kid needs is perhaps a hug or at worst maybe time out.if he really wants to go to college maybe he should tackle affirmative action so kids with good grades go to school just not kids to fill seats on skin color
Posted by: clay mcdaniel | December 29, 2006, 12:01 pm 12:01 pm
I stole a rankbook and let me tell you… i got 5 days out. this kid gets arrested
Posted by: yomalaka | January 5, 2007, 4:21 pm 4:21 pm
If he did it, fine, his own fault.
Gotta love the fact that half the people who post on here seem to think they have all the evidence, are ya’ll part of the police department?
Posted by: Brittany | January 8, 2007, 11:25 am 11:25 am
All of those people who are claiming this kid is guilty should remember that they probably thought the Duke lacrosse players were guilty too.
Doesn’t anyone think 30 years is a little excessive for a grade change?
Posted by: Jason | January 8, 2007, 11:55 am 11:55 am
The last time I checked we still lived in a state and country where due process was necessary, and there were still laws against illegal detainment- unless of course the president wants to do it and there are “exigent circumstances” and those were not mentioned here – yet.
As a member of the police explorers the child would know what not to do- i.e. have a witness, video or person, should he decide to be that stupid, as a class president cognizent of what the qualifications are for admission into FSU, he would also know that it is his full GPA, not 3 classes. Not to mention it wouldn’t have taken the guy 21 tries to change the 3 grades.
We have become a nation of lemmings and sheeple reacting to media coverage and all too willing to throw others under a bus for perceived misconduct because we see it on the news- without looking further into it.
Posted by: Emm | January 8, 2007, 11:57 am 11:57 am
“According to the report, Shrouder’s grades were changed 21 times for the better.”
- That to me is a bit ubsurd, and if it is true could be the smoking gun. High school pressure is real.
Posted by: Cody | January 8, 2007, 12:08 pm 12:08 pm
Something here smells fishy. The best they’ve got is that an acquaintance claimed he did it and a camera has them together that day?
How do we know the “friend” didn’t read the login and password?
21 times? How many classes does the guy have?
What’s more, usually if you’re class president, you tend to have pretty good grades in the first place.
It sounds like a fishing expedition and he’s the most convenient fish in the pond.
Innocent until proven guilty on this one. And they better have a LOT better evidence than this story indicates or else his college education may be courtesy of the Cooper City Police Department.
Posted by: Elmagico | January 8, 2007, 12:50 pm 12:50 pm
“Innocent until proven guilty” only applies in a court of law. In the court of public opinion sometimes it is the other way aroung
Posted by: Joe | January 8, 2007, 1:33 pm 1:33 pm
The sysadmin of the school should be charged with negligent conduct. Why would you allow regular users access to such a database? Why would the username/passwords with change permissions not be restricted to limited individuals who are tracked and controlled?
If not charged with some form of criminal act, at the very least the sysadmin should be immediately terminated. Find someone who actually takes system security seriously. If the proper precautions were taken, this kid wouldn’t have even had the chance to perform this act.
This is not to say that the kid isn’t responsible, just that the sysadmin bears some responsibility too.
Posted by: Sysadm | January 8, 2007, 1:35 pm 1:35 pm
I’m sorry but that’s what he gets for cheating. I think that it was good that he was arrested in front of everyone someone needs to show these kids that this is what happen when you cheat. It’s crazy how cheating is the norm today. Good luck guy maybe this will teach you cheaters a lesson including you old adults that cheat also what a shame!
Posted by: nicole | January 8, 2007, 2:14 pm 2:14 pm
Funny how many people here seem to think my classmate Ryan Shrouder is some ‘liberal’ pawn, acting-out some agenda that will bring real justice to the real criminals in Washington DC.
I go to the same school as Ryan, I am a Junior. Ryan is definitely NOT a liberal. He regularly attends church (he leads part of a youth group there), he helped your GOPers get out the vote like nothing this county has ever seen from someone his age.
All the same, since I’m a liberal, I have debated him a few times on some key points. He has his side, I have mine. We are acquaintences and certainly hang with different crowds.
But I will say this, if he did in fact do it, he should be punished. If he didn’t do it, this school district will be paying the price for how they dealt with it. It was disruptive to his other classmates, and because Ryan is such a bright and likeable guy, this has strained divided the community.
Again, if he did it, he should be punished. I see some of you adults have already forgotten what they teach us in Civics class, about due process, about being innocent until proven guilty. If the police had called Ryan at home and told him to stay put until he got there, Ryan is the type of guy who would have had coffee and snacks waiting for them when they got there.
And yes, I think 30 years is a bit ridiculous considering Jack Abramoff got just a couple years in the Glee Club. Maybe Ryan should appeal to some of the lawmakers he helped get re-elected.
Posted by: Classmate | January 8, 2007, 2:22 pm 2:22 pm
If he can’t do the time, he certainly should not have done the crime. Unfortunately, we have raised a generation who feels “anything goes!” It is kind of sad.
Posted by: jswain | January 8, 2007, 2:32 pm 2:32 pm
I have to say, I’m not part of this new generation, but the comment that this generation is “anything goes” is really off. I’m a gen X-er and, with all honesty, when I see what the Baby boomers are doing on capitol hill, what the baby boomers are doing to children they coax off the internet and what the baby boomers have done to marriage, civil discourse and a whole slew of other issues in this country, a kid cheating on his test scores (assuming he even did it) is kind of underwhelming. The generation that brought us vietnam, crack cocaine, and rampant corporate predatory capitalism has little to say to the young people they’ve charged with fixing their mess.
Posted by: Elmagico | January 8, 2007, 3:49 pm 3:49 pm
It seems to me that the most sensible person commenting is Ryan’s classmate. Not only do you not have all the facts, but most of you seem to love to see someone in trouble. If he did do this he should indeed be punished, but 30 years, come on! I am sure that none of you has ever cheated on anything, that’s why you can be so
judgemental. If this were your son and he turned out to be innocent, how would you feel?
Posted by: Chris | January 8, 2007, 9:23 pm 9:23 pm
Remember ‘War Games’? Every single kid including me that saw that movie wanted to be able to do the same thing. In fact, Matthew Broderick changed his grade via computer in Ferris Bueler too didn’t he.. 30 years? If the guy who gets caught changing his grade gets 30 years confinement then you might as well put the people who produced those movies in the prison as well. Crazy place we live in.
Posted by: Brian | January 9, 2007, 12:34 pm 12:34 pm
my god i know this kid and i know his brither and he is a good kid and to be voted class president means he does good in school so all of you people who say study and do it the old fashion way thenyou need to stop.COOPER CITY REPRESENT
Posted by: esteban | May 12, 2007, 12:11 pm 12:11 pm
I can remember my high school days in Florida, this would have been laughed out of school. Honestly… 30 years, It shouldn’t even be thought of. Does anyone know there is a war going on?
Let’s assume your child had done this, would anyone want there child to go to jail for a grade change, or anything for that matter? I have an eighteen year old and I just can’t imagine his community turning on him. Everyone should be outraged that these laws even exist. I’m not saying every crime should go unpunished, but this is a waste of tax payers money’s. I wish Ryan the best, what ever he did or didn’t do,.everyone deserves a second chance.
Posted by: Karen | June 16, 2007, 3:25 pm 3:25 pm
One thing that caught my attention in this case are reports that stated he planned to apply to Florida State University. Now, I certainly hope he didn’t change his grades just to get into FSU. No offense to any Seminoles, but you don’t exactly need stellar grades to gain admission to FSU. We’re not talking about Yale, Columbia or even UC Berkely here. On a more serious note, if Ryan is guilty, I hope he gets the punishment that fits the crime. I think a large fine would be a reasonable punishment, but not jail time in excess of a few months. And 30 yrs? We know some convicted murderers don’t even serve that. This scandal won’t ruin his life; worse things could happen. But, it certainly made some opportunities damn NEAR impossible and well out of his reach. I don’t even think jail time is necessary because the implications of having this felony on his records will punish him in worse ways than jail time ever could. He will lose out on opportunities such as attending prestigious schools, receiving merit based scholarships and getting prestigious jobs. Cheaters never win and if he’s guilty I hope he learns that lesson the hard way. Getting escorted out of the school cafeteria in hand cuffs in front of your peers is a great way to begin that lesson.
Posted by: CFowler | July 1, 2007, 1:30 am 1:30 am
When I was in high school in 1985 to 1989, (yes, we saw beloved Matthew Broderick in WarGames!) if we did something like that, we’d get yelled at by teachers, lectured by the principal, suspended for three days, and of course, our parents would kick our arses, but that was life in the 80′s. As Kentucky boys, we carried knives to school in our pockets, usually given to us as a gift by our dad’s. We didn’t stab nor shoot each other, and we didn’t go to jail for screwing around with the school computers. If the person in charge left the system available to us, it was their butt on the line, not ours. Someone even stole the school stamp [think notary stamp, the kinda that makes seal impressions} used to validate hallpasses, approved absence papers, etc., and everyone thought it was funny. They changed the stamp, and kept tighter reigns on the new stamp (maybe locked it in the secretary’s drawer this time?). Since 1989, the world went crazy. Was that really twenty years ago…what happened to America?
Posted by: Bill Collins | August 1, 2007, 7:54 pm 7:54 pm
Poor Nicole and all the others who keep mentioning that one is innocent until proven guilty and trying to define civics. Great scholars that they are! The boy was merely arrested so far. A conviction or an innocent verdict will occur with due process. You try so hard to sound intelligent and you are exposing your naivete, ignorance and emotion over logic and understanding. Hnece you lose credibility…and you are on the debate team???
No one has convicted anyone yet. There is plenty of speculation on both sides, hence opinions. The reality is that we have only the briefest of articles discussing the story and no one is aware of the facts more than the prosecutor and the alledged criminal at this point. There are a lot of missing details that would portend to any number of conclusions if you use your personal positions to fill in the gaps on either side of the issue.
So save the chest pounding about civil liberties et al, and see how it plays out.
Posted by: Benjamin | January 28, 2008, 2:37 pm 2:37 pm
This is what I call good old fashioned ingenuity! E was trying to get ahead. All of these people that are saying these negative things on here… Have you honestly never taken a shortcut to acorns something? Ever gone a little over the speed limit? You’re all hypocrites!
Posted by: SavageM51 | April 24, 2011, 11:07 am 11:07 am