Fifteen Argonaut High School seniors have been identified as potential participants in the cheating scandal that erupted two weeks ago after a teacher at the school noticed some students using a crib sheet during an accelerated reading test at the school's library.

A.T. Herrick, the Argonaut senior responsible for accessing the 350 test answers, was suspended from school last week and is prohibited from participating in the school's graduation ceremony Friday. After many hours of investigation conducted by local law enforcement and the school's staff, the truth regarding how Herrick obtained the answers was finally revealed. It was originally thought, based on his testimony, that he retrieved the answers by hacking into a computer.

The teacher caught the students cheating May 21 on the accelerated reading test, which accounts for 10 percent of each student's English grade.

Herrick's mother, Diana, said she wishes the district had dealt with the issue differently. "I am very upset that they're not allowing them to participate in the (graduation) ceremony," she told the Ledger Dispatch Wednesday. "It's a culmination of four years of sticking to a plan," she said, adding that the district is "taking away" the graduation ceremony from family members like her mother, husband and son's siblings.

"It would have been better served to have him write letters of apology" and do community service, she said. However, she does agree that the suspension was "fair and just. ... I don't think he understood the scope of consequences. He's more concerned for his fellow students. I think he's devastated. He's extremely sorry. He's got a conscience. He has goals. I think this was a huge learning experience."

Several members of the community responded to the Ledger Dispatch's story about the scandal that ran last week. One writer, a former teacher, said the whole incident "really grieves me." Betsy Tumbas taught French for 30 years before retiring in Plymouth in 2003. "This is probably a good kid who made the wrong choice. He had the opportunity to make the right choice and he didn't," she said.

"Something like this could really dog him," she added, referring to job and college applications. He may "pay the price for a long time."

In the long run, students who cheat are doing a disservice to themselves, said Mike Carey, Amador County superintendent of schools. "I like to think students can pass the test of being an honest person with integrity."

Tumbas also said parents have a responsibility to their children. "As a parent you want to protect your children," said Tumbas, who has two daughters. However, she added, "when they mess up, you owe it to them to stand up for what is ethical, moral and right."

The students who cheated during the test received zeroes on the accelerated reading part of their tests, Carey said. Even after the zeroes, all will be able to graduate Friday.