Didi Rankovic reports: A US school district with 95,000 students switched during the pandemic to using its “swarm” of automated surveillance tech to identify children who showed up at school without wearing a mask. The “smart cameras,” produced by Motorola’s Avigilon and capable of facial recognition and gun detection, were catching even those students who…
Category: Youth & Schools
Senate Inquiry Warns About Harms of Digital School Surveillance Tools, Calls on FCC to Clarify Student Monitoring Rules
Mark Keierleber reports: Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to clarify how schools should monitor students’ online activities, arguing in a new report that educators’ widespread use of digital surveillance tools could trample students’ civil rights. They also want the U.S. Education Department to start collecting data on…
New high-tech weapon detectors in three Niagara Falls city schools
Eileen Buckley reports: The Niagara Falls City School District has installed high-tech weapons screening system in three schools. The district is spending $641,000 to lease but includes all future technology upgrades. Schools Superintendent Dr. Mark Laurrie told 7 News that new detection units have been installed at three of his city schools, Niagara Falls High…
School nurse suspended for Facebook post accused of being “transphobic”
Ben Squires reports: The Hartford Public Schools board has suspended a 77-year-old school nurse after posts she made on social media. She was accused of transphobia and failing to respect the privacy of students by commenting publicly about what is going on at the school. In a moms’ group, Kathleen Cataford, who works at Richard J…