(ARC note: Multiple edits were made to this because the Lower Merion Township, PA School District website, where this correspondence was posted publicly, did not allow the text to be cut and pasted successfully into this format, so I retyped all of it and did not hyperlink. )
(Update Mon April 19, 2010, 8:25 pm see end of story)
(PA-06. It’s not the Onion. It’s my in- law’s congressional district. I live in CA. That way they can’t visit easily. )
Feb 18, 2010 Lower Merion School District Initial Response to Invasion of Privacy Allegation (yes, it says that right on their School’s webpage at www.lmsd.org )
Dear LMSD Community,
Last year, our school district became one of the first school systems in the United States to provide laptop computers to all high school students. This initiative has been well received and has provided educational benefits to our students. The District is dedicated to protecting and promoting student privacy. The laptops do contain a security feature intended to track lost, stolen, and missing laptops. This feature has been deactivated effective today./snip
We regret if this situation has caused any concern or inconvenience among our students and families. We are reviewing the matter and will provide an additional update as soon as information becomes available.
Sincerely,
Dr. Christopher McGinley,
Superintendent