Superintendent apologizes for making online video
Some parents still upset children's images were used without consent
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD - The Board of Education continues to address questions and concerns regarding an online video the school district made prior to the April 17 election.

The film appeared as a link on the school district's Web site and on Google Video a couple of days before the election but was removed from the Internet after the school district received a complaint from a concerned mother, according to interim Superintendent of Schools Robert Smith.

The video contained interviews with school district staff and parents, predominantly speaking about the need for a new middle school due to overcrowding. The video also provided a history of the Ellisdale Road site previously chosen for the construction of the new middle school, and information regarding the referendum that went before voters in this year's election for moving the project to a site on Breza Road.

The film used shots of students inside classrooms and in the cafeteria and hallways of the Upper Freehold Elementary/Middle School.

New Jersey Statute 18A:36-35, which has been in effect since January 2002, states that the Board of Education of each school district and the board of trustees of each charter school that establishes an Internet Web site, shall not disclose on that site any personally identifiable information about a student without receiving prior written consent from the student's parent or guardian on a form developed by the Department of Education. The written consent form contains a statement concerning the potential dangers of personally identifiable information about individual students on the Internet.

As used in this act, "personally identifiable information" means student names, student photos, student addresses, student e-mail addresses, student phone numbers, and locations and times of class trips.

At the May 2 board meeting, Maureen Novozinsky said she was upset that she could identify her child on the video.

"There were three versions of this video on Google," she said. "Any predator could look at the first few seconds of the video and think, 'Look at all these cute kids.'"

Smith said he had the video made by Allentown High School students and he posted it on the Web sites.

Regarding the images of the children used in the video, Smith said, "I thought the camera moved fast enough so I OK'd the video for posting and made it available to the public."

As soon as one mother called him and said she could identify her son, Smith said, he had the video immediately removed from the Internet.

"I apologized to that parent and I apologize to any other parent whose student image could possibly be identified on the video," he said. "I made a mistake."

Smith continued, "I wish I could turn back time and make other decisions regarding the video. I'm sorry."

Novozinsky said, "Sorry is not good enough."

She asked who made the decision to put the video on Google.

Board of Education President Joseph Stampe said the school district's Web site couldn't handle the online video.

Novozinsky said, "Maybe you shouldn't have done it."

Stampe replied, "Excellent point."

Novozinsky replied, "My rights were taken away."

Board member Chris Shaw said, "We cannot fault Dr. Smith for this because there have been plenty of instances where still photographs of kids have appeared in newsletters and plenty of other mass communications out to the public."

Shaw said technology has advanced and the school district now has to cope with a different age.

"I agree our policy needs to be reviewed," he said.

Former board member Kathy Wolden said she would hate to see the issue turned into one of "technology and splitting hairs."

"There is a New Jersey State statute on the books that is fairly clear," she said. "It is an issue of respecting student privacy, respecting the law and respecting the rights of parents. I hope you don't confuse the issues."

Stampe said the board is going to look at the school district's policy for using student information in a public context.

Stampe said the district's current policy is similar to that of the state's policy regarding the use of student information and images. Stampe said the district will look into allowing parents to sign a general release of information for future projects like the referendum video.

"People would sign it and if we used a child's image in public it would be OK," he said.

The school district would keep its policy of having parents and guardians sign a special release for events that may be covered by the media, Stampe said.

Stampe said the board will further discuss the policy review at its June workshop meeting. He does foresee the school district using more online videos and other new means of communication to get information out to the public, Stampe said.

The school district expects to completely revamp its Web site this summer for such capabilities, he said.