THE HONOR CODE OF FRANK W. COX HIGH SCHOOL for 2014-2015
The Honor Code of Frank W. Cox High School embraces the concepts of personal integrity and mutual respect and is
the school’s acknowledgment of the importance of excellence in all educational endeavors. Knowledge without ethics is
both useless and dangerous, and it is the desire of the Cox community to ensure that its students understand the
importance of having knowledge and ethics work in conjunction with each other. The Code is designed to address
academic misconduct, and its penalties are, therefore, academic in nature.
Responsibilities
Faculty Responsibilities
1. Help create an academic environment where all members of the school community view cheating as unacceptable.
2. Clearly outline and define acceptable behaviors within the teacher’s course.
3. Structure assessment conditions to create an environment that inspires honorable behavior and maintains integrity.
4. Consult with the student to substantiate whether an Honor Code violation has occurred.
5. Report any violation of the Honor Code to the parent/legal guardian and Honor Code coach.
6. Utilize best practices to minimize opportunities for students to cheat.
Student Responsibilities
1. Help create an academic environment where all members of the school community view cheating as unacceptable.
2. Learn the Frank W. Cox High School Honor Code.
3. Exercise academic honesty in all aspects of their work.
4. Use sources in the prescribed manner.
5. Pledge to uphold and sustain academic integrity in our school by being an example to others.
6. Seek clarification should any question of the Honor Code arise.
Administrator Responsibilities
1. Help create an academic environment where all members of the school community view cheating as unacceptable.
2. Work with students, staff, and parents to maintain a culture of academic integrity.
3. Make the Honor Code available to all students, teachers, and parents.
4. Require teachers to enforce the Honor Code.
5. Support the Honor Code process.
Honor Code Violations
Academic misconduct under the Code includes any form of cheating. This means that each piece of work submitted by
a student during a course is to be his/her own work unless prepared under other conditions specified by the faculty
member in charge of the assignment. Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to, the following:
Plagiarism – the copying of the language, structure, ideas, and/or thoughts of another and passing off same as
one’s own original work. Plagiarism is an act of fraud. It is using others’ ideas and words without clearly
acknowledging the source of that information.
Plagiarizing by not citing sources: copying all or part of someone else’s work, blending several sources
to create a cut and paste paper, and/or changing key phrases or words.
Plagiarizing by omitting complete sources: mentioning the source, but neglecting to provide a citation;
giving inaccurate, incomplete, or insufficient citation information; failing to include quotes around
non-original ideas.
Copying of graded assignments of another student
Giving or receiving unauthorized help on a test, quiz, or paper
Fraudulently changing a test answer or other academic work after the testing period or the due date of an
assignment
Falsification – such action or words which would lead a reasonable person to conclude wrongly that the work was
one’s own (e.g., name forgery on an assignment completed by someone else)
Honor Code Procedures
Before a student is accused of academic misconduct, the faculty member in charge of the assignment will inform
the student of his/her assessment of the student’s action and allow the student to respond. If the teacher still
feels that the student violated the Honor Code, he will inform a parent or legal guardian of the violation and the
penalty. The teacher will submit a “Notification of Violation” form to an Honor Code coach.
An Honor Code coach will meet with the student and give the student a copy of the “Notification of Violation”
form, counsel the student, and address any questions or concerns regarding the Honor Code.
To request an appeal, the parent or legal guardian must contact the Honor Code coach within five days of
notification. The Honor Code coach will convene a committee of three faculty members. The student, his/her
parent or legal guardian, and the faculty member in charge of the assignment will attend. The Honor Code coach
will inform the student and parent/legal guardian of the decision within 24 hours.
To appeal the committee’s decision, the parent or legal guardian shall submit a written request to the principal.
The principal shall review forthwith the actions taken by the committee and confirm or disapprove such actions
based upon an examination of the record. Such written requests must be filed with the principal within three
school days of the notification of the committee’s decision.
The Honor Code is in effect during the entire school year. Penalties will be given in the class where the violation
occurs. In the current school year, the penalties will be as follows:
First violation – The student will receive a zero on the assignment.
Second violation – The student will fail the course in which the second violation occurred for the
quarter. The student will receive a 63 or earned average if below a 63.
Three or more violations – The student will fail the course in which the violation occurred for the
semester. The student will receive a 63 or earned average if below a 63.
Members of the Frank W. Cox High School National Honor Society, Art Honor Society, English Honor
Society, Math Honor Society, Science Honor Society, Social Studies Honor Society, and all foreign language
honor societies who violate the Honor Code may be subject to dismissal. The sponsors of these honor
societies will be informed when a member has violated the Honor Code.
Honor Code violations are limited to the school year and do not carry over from any previous year.
Honor Pledge:
I have neither given nor received unauthorized help on this assignment and pledge to uphold the Frank W. Cox High School Honor
Code.
The Frank W. Cox High School Honor Code supports School Board of the City of Virginia Beach, Regulation 534.2