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Hidden Camera Controversy Leaves Valdez School With Unanswered Questions (KTVA.com Exclusive)Parents, students and teachers left wondering who's watchingRelated Content
VALDEZ – After 29 years with the Valdez School District, teacher and coach Barb Lyons thought she had seen it all. She wasn’t prepared for what happened Tuesday night. Leaving the gym at Gilson Junior High School around 7 p.m. after a night of basketball with her students, Lyons said she ran into two coworkers – Principal Rod Morrison and Sue, the junior high school’s evening custodian. In her hands, Sue held a small digital surveillance camera. “They said, ‘Look what we just found in the staff lounge,’” Lyons said, recalling her shock when she realized what it was. A quick search of the school revealed the camera, hidden in the ceiling of the staff lounge with a view of the computer, had been streaming video to a laptop computer set up in a nearby custodial closet. After school staff expanded the search to the high school, Lyons said they found another hidden surveillance camera and laptop set up in yet another custodial closet. This time, Lyons recognized the camera: It had previously been set up on the desk in the junior high teacher’s lounge, disguised as a digital clock. “It’s kind of beyond your wildest imagination that people would do something like this,” said Lyons. With only 100 students, she said the tight-knit junior high school didn’t have a security system. People trusted each other, she said, so when district Superintendent Jacob Jensen told teachers he had no idea where the cameras or computers came from, emotions ran high. “You’ve got some very angry teachers,” she said, adding the local teacher’s union had entered a contract negotiation year with the district. “Trust is not something that’s strong around here now.” Jensen did not respond to interview requests Thursday, but told teachers in a written statement that two employees had been placed on unpaid administrative leave as a result of the incident. He called it a “personnel issue.” For Jeri Devens, a Valdez High School graduate and mother of two senior students, there were other issues. “As a parent, any time you hear ‘hidden video camera’ in close proximity to teenagers, it makes you nervous,” Devens said. “You want answers.” Devens said she first heard about the cameras Wednesday afternoon, when her two teenagers returned from school and told her about the bewildered classroom conversations between teachers and students earlier that day. “The kids and the teachers are saying there’s one in the sick room, they think there was one in girl’s locker room,” she said. “Of course, since it’s a small town, rumors are running rampant.” While Lyons only saw two cameras Tuesday night, she said she, too, heard rumors of many more. “We heard there was a massive scramble to remove cameras quickly the next morning,” she said. Even cameras positioned in the staff room would have been privy to confidential discussions about students, as well as other private conversations. Devens said visiting sports teams would often stay in the room, sleeping and changing in assumed privacy. Without any answers from district officials, Devens said she was left with several burning questions: who positioned the cameras, how long have they been there, what was recorded and why? Even though teachers said Valdez police seized the cameras and laptops the next day, Lyons said Jensen had first taken the equipment home with him overnight. While the Valdez School District administration told teachers the investigation into the cameras was ongoing, Lyons said she’s unsatisfied by the explanation for what she called an “extreme violation” of privacy. Devens said she considers them immoral, if not illegal. “There just seems like there’s something very inappropriate about hidden cameras at schools,” she said. “Because it wasn’t handled by professionals, with any promise of confidentiality, is my teenage daughter on the internet?” Valdez Police Chief William Comer could not be reached for comment Thursday. |
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Anonymous said on Friday, Apr 20 at 10:08 AM
so?
88268154Valdez Citizen said on Friday, Apr 20 at 2:04 PM
Strange how the school board meeting was canceled, huh?
88298656Anonymous said on Friday, Apr 20 at 10:52 PM
"Valdez Police Chief William Comer could not be reached for comment Thursday" Of course not. Why is it that nobody is bringing up the fact that the Valdez School District and the Valdez Police Department 2 years ago announced publically that they were placing camersa in the schools. This was reported in the Valdez Star. Get those papers and then ask the right questions. This is a conspiricy.
88339915Valdez Citizen 2 said on Saturday, Apr 21 at 2:18 AM
The teachers lounge is a private place not a school hallway (I don't think our children need to be videoed either). There are sensitive conversations going in those rooms at times and at no time should administration or custodial staff be able to spy on their conversations. Why would the Police Chief not confiscate the computers and footage but instead allowed the Superintendent to take this equipment with him? What? While definitely still a violation of privacy for the teachers, a Civil Rights issue, even if it were just two workers trying to get someone fired, who paid for the cameras? Who was going to view the footage? Who approved the use? Who is ultimately the captain of that ship? And if it really was a dumb thing 2 janitors were doing, how about straight forward answers to straight forward questions and possibly an investigation by a competent, unbiased agency.
88345096walt wamsley said on Saturday, Apr 21 at 3:50 AM
We do not need hidden cameras in our schools. It certainly seems to be an invasion of privacy!
88348406Mandy Gershon said on Saturday, Apr 21 at 12:30 PM
I could see placing security cameras outside the school; I think that would help with things like bullies, vandalism, litterbugs ... but inside shouldn't be necessary and opens up a different can of worms.
88385776Miguk-Saram said on Tuesday, Jun 19 at 3:06 AM
Though everything is conjecture at this point, I highly doubt that the teachers or students are really suspect here. Seems as if catching the teachers gossiping about sensitive information and firing them was the goal I suspect that the superintendent was using the janitors to do his dirty work. Instead of any teachers losing their positions, expect the superintendent to lose his.
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