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Prestigious Stuyvesant High Rocked By Alleged Regents Exam Cheating Scandal

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Stuyvesant High School is home to some of New York City's brightest young minds, but now the Department of Education is investigating allegations of cheating.

One student who allegedly thought he could outsmart the state Regents exam by using using cell phone technology has set off a major investigation.

The alleged scandal is the talk outside the prestigious Lower Manhattan school, known for attracting top-tier science and technology students.

"It's a shame. It's a shame if it's true, I don't know much," Irina Tsoneva told CBS 2's Derricke Dennis on Monday.

The details were first reported in the Daily News.

An unidentified 11th grader was said to have taken the city-wide Regents exam himself last week and was caught with a banned cell phone, snapping pictures of the exam.

The proctor reportedly found screenshots of the answers to the Spanish, physics and English exams, along with evidence the student sent those answers to more than 50 classmates via cell phone.

"Yeah, I mean you take out a cell phone, two clicks, and if the monitor is not really watching it closely, you know...," said former student Dan Shmuela.

Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott was reportedly furious over the alleged cheating.

A Department of Education spokesperson confirmed an investigation is underway into whether fellow students solicited the answers, paid their cheating classmate or whether it was a scheme propagated all on his own.

Former student Michael Pesce said cheating puts honest, hardworking students at a terrible disadvantage.

"You know, someone like me, and the rest of the New Yorkers study all night and day, and you have people like this who just want to go the easy way out," he said.

The DOE has not released further details.

The student at the center of the scandal is said to have been suspended last week and reportedly won't be returning to Stuyvesant.

What do you think about the alleged cheating scandal? Please offer your thoughts in the comments section below. ...

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