SALEM – SAD 58 directors compromised on a high school policy change regarding students using laptops to obtain pornography.
Director Sara Woods of Stratton brought up the issue and said she would like to see second-time offenders brought before the school board for an expulsion hearing. The students also should be required to have counseling before they can return to school, she said.
“One time can be a mistake,” she said. “If it is going on repeatedly, something is wrong.”
She said she knew of a student in such a situation. “I want something done for that child.”
The school’s policy holds that the principal had the authority to suspend a student or set up an expulsion hearing with the board.
The principal can suggest counseling but cannot require it. Principal Jeanne Tucker said that she knows of five repeat offenders within the school.
“We usually shut off Internet privileges,” she said. “We’ve had two cases where we’ve brought the parents in for a meeting and suggested counseling,” and the parents declined.
Superintendent Quenten Clark said that filters are in place within the schools that make it extremely difficult for students to get to pornographic Web sites. “Some kids do try to get around the filters, and if they do, we stop it pretty quickly,” he said.
Clark added that when students have pornography on their laptops, it is usually because they plugged into the Internet at home.
Board member Alan Morse suggested a compromise, which was accepted by the board.
“Instead of mandatory expulsion, let’s say that the computers can no longer go home” after a second offense, he said.
The board also decided to set a one-semester limit on the time the laptop could not be taken from the school.
Board member Ann Schwink asked how much impact not allowing the laptops to be taken home would have on students’ work.
Tucker replied that those students could stay after school and work on their laptops or the school computers.
Board members also learned of another computer-related problem. The hard drives on Apple laptops used by students in grades 7 to 12 are being damaged.
The problem can be traced to iTunes “because students play music on them all the time and carry them everywhere,” Clark said.
Another area of concern is that school buses are “vibrating and the hard drive is turning” as students were using them.
“We’ve discouraged kids from carrying the laptops around as much as possible,” Clark said. He added that drivers no longer allow students to use their laptops on buses.
Tucker said students will often use their laptops during lunch and downtime during the school day and sit them on their laps, which is not good for the computers either. She said specific areas that have flat surfaces to put the laptops on have been designated for students to use during those times.
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