L. Merion to let parents see secretly snapped photos
The president of the Lower Merion school board said Friday that investigators had retrieved "a substantial number" of photos secretly snapped by laptops the district gave its high school students, and that officials were arranging for parents whose children were photographed to see the pictures in private.
In his strongest terms since the furor began over the laptop-tracking program two months ago, board president David Ebby also said district officials "deeply regret the mistakes and misguided actions" that have given rise to a lawsuit, a federal criminal inquiry, a call for new privacy legislation, and a wave of national publicity.
But Ebby said Lower Merion's continuing internal investigation had found no evidence that its employees used the technology for "inappropriate" purposes."
"We are committed to disclosing fully what happened, correcting our mistakes, and making sure that they do not happen again," he said in a statement addressed to parents and guardians and posted on the district's Web site.
Ebby's comments came less than a day after a lawyer for Harriton High sophomore Blake Robbins filed a motion in federal court asserting that the district's system for tracking lost or stolen laptops had secretly captured "thousands" of images, including photos of students in their homes, the Web sites they visited, and excerpts of their online chats.
Robbins and his parents, residents of Penn Valley, filed the suit in February that first drew attention to the laptop-tracking system and triggered an investigation by school officials - as well as a federal investigation into whether wiretap and privacy laws had been violated.
As part of that federal probe, the school administrator who ran the tracking system is to be interviewed next week by
Protests revived over school land
Judge calls for settlement in L. Merion bias case
North Penn teachers plan to strike Monday
Teachers' union agrees to freeze salaries
In his strongest terms since the furor began over the laptop-tracking program two months ago, board president David Ebby also said district officials "deeply regret the mistakes and misguided actions" that have given rise to a lawsuit, a federal criminal inquiry, a call for new privacy legislation, and a wave of national publicity.
But Ebby said Lower Merion's continuing internal investigation had found no evidence that its employees used the technology for "inappropriate" purposes."
"We are committed to disclosing fully what happened, correcting our mistakes, and making sure that they do not happen again," he said in a statement addressed to parents and guardians and posted on the district's Web site.
Ebby's comments came less than a day after a lawyer for Harriton High sophomore Blake Robbins filed a motion in federal court asserting that the district's system for tracking lost or stolen laptops had secretly captured "thousands" of images, including photos of students in their homes, the Web sites they visited, and excerpts of their online chats.
Robbins and his parents, residents of Penn Valley, filed the suit in February that first drew attention to the laptop-tracking system and triggered an investigation by school officials - as well as a federal investigation into whether wiretap and privacy laws had been violated.
As part of that federal probe, the school administrator who ran the tracking system is to be interviewed next week by
Protests revived over school land
A plan to transfer valuable Philadelphia School District property to a well-connected nonprofit group has fallen through over a federal funding denial, prompting further protests by residents around the Tanner Duckrey School.
Judge calls for settlement in L. Merion bias case
The judge in a racial-bias case aimed at a school-redistricting plan for Lower Merion on Friday broke routine protocol by calling upon the parties, in open court, to reach a settlement.
North Penn teachers plan to strike Monday
Teachers in the 12,700-student North Penn School District are scheduled to strike on Monday after the school board's rejection of a proposed contract negotiated during nonbinding arbitration.
Teachers' union agrees to freeze salaries
A third South Jersey teachers union has agreed to a wage freeze to lessen the blow of cuts in state aid.
