January 5, 2024
Dear Families and Students,
I am writing to you to share some important and disturbing information about communication and technology use issues in our school today. Yesterday afternoon a student at St. Albans Town Education Center sent a picture of their penis, and a picture of their face to another student. The student who received the picture shared the images with others, some of whom continued sharing the pictures with additional students. At some point, the two pictures were edited and combined into one picture. The pictures were distributed via airdrop, text message, and through various social media and chat apps. Currently, we know that students at all Maple Run Unified School District schools have received the picture(s).
This is concerning on multiple levels and we’ve moved to address the issue as quickly as possible. Across the district we’ve met with students that we are aware have received the pictures, discussed the situation, asked them to delete the pictures, and notified their parents. At St. Albans Town Education Center we’ve also engaged the 7th and 8th grade classes in grade-level meetings given the widespread distribution in these grades. The district liaison officer has been assisting and is liaising with the Department of Children and Families, as well as the regional sex crimes unit (these are legally required steps that the school and police department must take). We are asking all Maple Run parents to engage your children in conversation about these events, responsible communication, and technology use, and to ensure that these pictures do not exist on their devices. Since most student phones are registered in the names of their parents, we highly recommend talking to students about the impact such actions have on others, including those that might not be immediately obvious.
Please see the below links for useful resources for talking with your children about technology use, sexting, and bullying.
- Ryan’s Story Resource Page - https://www.ryanpatrickhalligan.org/resources
- Healthy Children - https://www.healthychildren.org/English/family-life/Media/Pages/the-new-problem-of-sexting.aspx#:~:text=Ask%20your%20child%20if%20they,giving%20them%20information%20and%20guidance.
- Stop Bullying - https://www.stopbullying.gov/resources/how-to-talk-about-bullying
The safety, well-being, and health of all students is our number one priority. If you have specific questions about your child, please contact your child’s school counselor or principal.
Sincerely,
Bill Kimball, Superintendent of Schools