CVUSD: Mecca school hidden camera mistakenly installed
A hidden camera discovered in a classroom at Saul Martinez Elementary school was put in place to help catch alleged break-in suspects but was mistakenly installed in the wrong room and the wrong school, according to a Coachella Valley Unified School District statement released Monday.
The District hired Nicole Miller & Associates, Inc., an outside consultant, to investigate the origin on the camera after it was discovered at the Mecca school in March. The investigator from the consultant firm found that District Security obtained permission from a principal of a CVUSD school and the classroom teacher to install the hidden camera so that footage could be captured of suspects who allegedly broke into the classroom previously.
However, the camera was not installed in the approved classroom or the approved school, according to the district statement.
“The investigation revealed that the camera was mistakenly placed in a classroom at Saul Martinez instead of the classroom approved by the site principal and classroom teacher at another elementary school,” read the statement. “This error was not discovered until the camera was found and reported by Saul Martinez students.”
Read the District’s full statement below:
The statement did not specify which school the camera was supposed to be installed in.
The District expressed that it does not support the placement of cameras in classrooms unless the ‘express awareness and permission of the classroom teacher’ is given.
“Of noteworthy importance, no footage of students or Saul Martinez staff was captured by the hidden surveillance camera,” closes the statement. “The District takes student and staff safety seriously and will continue to strive to ensure mistakes such as the one that occurred do not happen again.”
