A Gig Harbor (Wash.) High School administrator whose use of video footage of two girls kissing prompted the school to tighten its rules on surveillance cameras will no longer be dean of students. Keith Nelson has been reassigned to work with the Peninsula School District’s career and technical education program. Surveillance cameras had taped two girls kissing and holding hands, and Nelson shared the recording with the parents of one of the girls. The school system's attorney concluded Nelson didn’t violate school policies, but district officials say it was a misjudgment for him to share the video; such sharing is now prohibited.
Click here to read The Tacoma News-Tribune article.
Earlier: Video cameras at Gig Harbor (Wash.) High School were installed to catch trespassers, fights, harassment--the incidents that threaten safety at the campus of 1,700 students. The surveillance system has also helped administrators find and discipline students who break rules, such as leaving trash on a lunch table. But after a recording of two female students kissing and holding hands was shown to parents of one of the girls, the high school says it will tighten its rules on security cameras. The school’s dean of students showed the footage to the parents, who have since transferred their daughter to a school outside the Peninsula School District. The other girl, who remains at Gig Harbor High, says their privacy was invaded. School staff members can now use footage only for security monitoring and to catch trespassers, fights, vandalism and similar violations.
To read The Tacoma News-Tribune article, click here.
