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A recent cheating scandal has impacted the American Academy McAllister Institute, a Manhattan mortician school, known informally as the “Harvard of Mortuary Schools,” with the news set to impact funeral homes throughout New York, in what is said to be a “widespread conspiracy.”
What happened?
The state Health Department last week filed charges against seven teachers, including the president and CEO Mary Margaret Dunn. According to the allegations, students were given special aid to help cheat on exams through emails divulging test information sent from teachers.
The scandal is said to have come out of a five-year investigation, after an unidentified student notified the examining board conference that “very specific and direct answers to the National Board Exam” were sent in an email, according to Fox News.
What happens now?
Due to the scandal, the passing scores of more than 300 AAMI graduates have been disqualified by the International Conference of Funeral Service Examining Boards. In addition, the state Bureau of Funeral Directors is said to have informed almost 100 New York morticians that they must perform one of two options to avoid having theirlicense invalidated: re-sit and pass the exam by June 30, 2018, or apply for an extension by the end of the year.
Despite the scandal, some have spoken out in defense of the school, claiming their actions were intended to address a shortage of workers in the modern mortuary industry. According to Fox News, Robert Ruggiero, the executive director of the Metropolitan Funeral Directors Association, called the investigation a “witch hunt” and issued the following statement:
“The industry is already short-staffed by 30 percent. This action will only compound the problem. There is limited number of funeral directors already straining to accommodate the public caseload.”
