Committee1

July 14, 2015

Dear Superintendent Bednar:

As a committee we have reviewed the actions of the student involved with distributing inappropriate images around the school and the affected classmates. We have come to the following conclusions:

We have unanimously agreed that this student's actions were inappropriate. This student used skills learned at this school and abused these skills at home. This student also brought nude images onto school property with the intention of harming members of this school's community. By bringing these images onto school property, the student violated the AUP, and disciplinary actions must be in order. We have decided to meet with the principal, the students' parents, and the student in a meeting. We will also invite a school attorney to discuss the legality of the situation to this meeting. Until this meeting, the student will be suspended from this school and it's events.

The policy violated was the sixth policy in the AUP and specifically stated that regulations would be in place to "restrict minors' access to material harmful to minors." This all comes down to the fact that students were able to view harmful material while in school. Unfortunately, this was the only policy which came close to covering the student's actions, because nearly all of the actions conducted by the student were done outside of school, using personal resources.

We, as a committee, have determined that the AUP does not provide enough coverage when discussing all matters pertaining to the use of technology and the school. In this case, the AUP barely covered the students actions. The student provided access for other students to view the created material, which in turn violated the AUP; however, the direct use of "school resources" was not used in the creation of the material. Only the technology portion of this situation inside the school and on the school computers was covered in the AUP. Therefore, we believe that the AUP needs to be updated to accommodate situations from all facets that should arise in the future and cover the incidents adequately.

The school needs to enforce a zero tolerance for bullying policy. This policy needs to incorporate the use of technology inside the school and at home. If technology is used in any circumstance to bully a student in our system, the student will be suspended or expelled based on the severity of the infraction(s). No student in our school system should have to feel pressured for any reason from the use of technology manipulation. It is clear that the offending student intended to use technology to target students. All should feel safe and secure in the school environment that we create. Cyber-bullying should have the same type of repercussions as bullying in person.

Thank you for your time, Committee 1