The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education held a public hearing Thursday that was followed by a work session where members debated the merits of a proposed Internet filtering system. The floor for the public hearing was closed 10 minutes after the meeting started because no one showed up.
Ray Reitz, chief technology officer for the school system, addressed the board following the public hearing. He told board members that the schools have a federal grant allotting them between $75,000 to $100,000 to be used for technological services. The grant, which the system received in 2001 as part of the Child Internet Protection Act, is given to schools that control students' access to material on the Internet.
But to receive the grant, the system must enforce content filters and provide a protected and secure Internet environment for students.
Prior to Thursday's meeting, the school system organized a committee composed of media and technical specialists, teachers, parents and students to establish guidelines that would better control students' activities on the Internet.
Bob Stocking, director of Instructional Tech and Media, said the board should examine solutions for the filtering system and revise as necessary. Some of these solutions include mandating that the filters be list-based rather than keyword-based, should be updated as often as possible and should give override permission to a limited number of school officials.
Reitz said that if the filters aren't used the system will lose a substantial amount of e-rate funding, and the system will not be focusing on students' safety.
"We simply want to provide a more protected Internet experience for students so they are directed to sites that relate to the curriculum," Reitz said.
Stocking told the board there is little the committee can do to eliminate students using the Internet inappropriately.
Board member Nick Didow questioned how frequently students use the Internet for inappropriate reasons. "So far I have been very proud of the students for making excellent judgements while using the Internet and have heard little evidence of any negative use," he said.
