Ten students face potential conviction as the High School Student Council (HSSC) began the process of determining their involvement in an alleged forged documents scandal on Oct. 25. Permission forms to admin range from DMHS-friendly slips to a trip to the Gumi Science Center. As the first mass student conviction, the outcome sets a historic precedent for future cases. “The prosecution was shocking, it was a rip to the constitutional fabric of DIS,” head of school Scott Jolly said at a recent conference. 

The students, names kept anonymous due to college admissions, are accused of conspiracy to defraud DIS and conspiracy against rights in connection with an alleged pressure campaign on teachers to proceed with the class. First to ever be held for fraud, the HSSC and National Honor Society condemn the students for stoking deception and confusion. Jets Tailspin emailed HSSC members for comment on Friday. HSSC members declined to comment.

Since the students’ legal troubles began, there’s been speculation about what teachers knew. Some believe teachers were aware of the forgery but chose to overlook it, given the widespread use of unsigned Google Forms. So how much — or how little — did teachers actually see? “It was practically an open secret,” an anonymous whistleblower who witnessed the “hacking” of a parent email to sign the DMHS friendly form shared. “Students have been doing it for years.” 

The problem-plagued proceedings were halted by repeated delays, from parents threatening to boycott tuition payments to protests of “Free Forgery” ringing throughout the hallways. On Thursday, a notice in the court docket indicated the case was reassigned to Judge Katie Vis, nominated by Elementary Principal Steve Vis in 2023. Vis’ recent appointment in 2024 has added another layer of complexity to the already controversial proceedings.