The Boulder Valley School District has agreed to limit searches of students’ cellphone text messages after the ACLU said the practice violated students’ privacy.
The ACLU of Colorado accused administrators at Monarch High School of breaking the law after they checked text messages of students suspected of smoking on school property last spring.
The administrators thought the students were texting each other to assure that each gave the same story when questioned, district spokesman Briggs Gamblin said today.
“We don’t agree that was a violation, however, we did offer in the wake of that issue to meet with the ACLU and see if we could reach common ground on what would be appropriate safeguards. We have reached an agreement,” Gamblin said.
The agreement calls for administrators to get permission from a student or a parent before checking text messages. If an administrator believes a text message or messages pose an imminent threat to public safety, they can be checked without permission.
Administrators also must fill out a checklist that spells out the minimum standards that must be met to conduct a search.
In a letter to the district last fall, the ACLU asserted that nonconsensual searches of text messages violate a Colorado criminal statute designed to protect the privacy of telephone and electronic communications.
The ACLU said that administrators at the high school in Louisville violated the statute by seizing students’ cellphones; reading the text messages; transcribing messages that administrators regarded as incriminating; and placing some transcriptions in students’ permanent files.
“I commend the Boulder Valley School District for making a decision that protects students’ privacy and addresses the concerns raised in the ACLU’s letter,” said Mark Silverstein,ACLU Legal Director.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
