A few days ago we posted a press release from the Park City School District about a teacher that was fired for “inappropriate communications” with a student and had been taken into police custody. Bubba Brown at the Park Record filled in the blanks by telling us that a teacher was charged with: “solicitation to commit sodomy upon a child and solicitation to commit aggravated sexual abuse of a child, both first-degree felonies, as well as second- and third-degree counts of enticing a minor by Internet or text.”

In today’s world, people who commit these acts are often called “Sexual Predators.” However, this tends to obfuscate what’s often really happening. So, we at the ParkRag are going to call these people Child Molesters. The connotation of “Child Molester” is in line with the act. We hope there is a special place in hell (and/or prison) for people who prey upon children.

With that said, the Park City School District needs to put every precaution in place to catch these type of bast*rds, before it requires a child to report the incident AFTER 500 EMAILS HAVE BEEN EXCHANGED. Yes, according to the Park Record, there were 500 emails going back and forth between the teacher and the child. Incredible.

My “day job” is in IT. My company works with the largest banks in the country and those banks have a requirement that we screen EVERY email in our entire company for certain content. Likewise, most banks require that our computer network watches traffic and notifies personnel if certain content passes through our systems. It’s not hard to do these checks and has become commonplace. That’s why I find the fact that that 500 emails passed between student and teacher (on this topic) so incredible. If, as the Park Record reported, this communication happened via school computers, it likely points to gross negligence on the Park City School District’s part and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lawsuit arise from this matter.

Yet, what about the future? How are future children protected? How are these vicious acts stopped before hundreds of emails are exchanged?

A start would be utilizing technology and hiring someone to administer it.

What should our district be doing at a minimum?

• Use email filters that look for certain keywords/concepts and notify district personnel when those keywords are used in an email from any staff or student.
•  Track the number of communications between staff and students.
• All local school network traffic should be monitored by systems looking for unusual traffic and content.

I’m not advocating that the school district “spy” on every teacher in Park City. However, I am advocating for ensuring that a computerized filter is put in place that automatically (without human intervention) looks at every email sent, every website a person uses, every Instagram a person sends and notifies proper personnel in questionable cases. Of course, this won’t stop a malicious teacher or staff member who uses gmail and emails a student’s gmail account… however we could also drill into our student’s heads that the only communication with a teacher or faculty should come from a school email address.

It’s not fool proof, but it does add an extra layer of complexity that a child molester has to work through if they are trying endanger our children.

The scary part of this is the statistics. We have heard of 3 incidents in Park City in the last two years in Park City. Yet, statistics show that up to 7% of students will be sexually abused by those working in the school system. In Park City, if we have 4000 students matriculating through our district, that would be 280 students that will be sexually abused. We know of less than 10. Either we are very lucky or we have a problem that hasn’t been discovered yet.

Years ago, a friend of a friend worked at a college in Salt Lake as the college’s security administrator. He was responsible for monitoring the traffic on the school’s network. His job was to filter through the typical content that some may call egregious (like pornography) and watch for those people who may take that a step further into illegal areas. It wasn’t complicated. Yet it was important. He was much like an early warning system that was watching for potential problems. He was able to alert authorities when his systems highlighted an issue. Did it prevent all abuse on campus? No. Did it help? Yes.

If the Park City School District doesn’t have both systems in place and people to monitor them, then this seems like priority number 1. If they do have systems, but nothing is being found, then personnel and/or systems need to be upgraded. This is a huge problem and HAS BEEN A HUGE problem for more than a decade. Our school district needs to do more than host meetings about the issue. Simply educating parents and students is not enough in this case. The school district needs to help solve it. It’s their responsibility.

I am happy to do my civic duty and help in any way possible. If anyone from the school district or parents at home have questions, feel free to email me at . I’m not an expert but I’m wiling to help and can get you answers from technology experts in this field if necessary.

The Park City School District released information on the Sheriff taking a former Ecker Hill Middle School Teacher info into custody. The release reads:

My name is Julia, and I am a junior at Park City High School. Today I would like to give you a look at what my testing schedule looks like in the spring of this school year. The third week of April, I will have Galileo tests in my English, math, and science classes. The following week, I will begin my SAGE English tests. During the next two weeks, I will have three AP tests. The week after that, I will have SAGE tests for science. And the following week, the second to last week of school, I will be taking the math SAGE test. During this period I will also be taking finals given by teachers, and potentially the ACT or SAT as well. Does this sound overwhelming yet? To me, and to many other students, I can say it most certainly does.

Each of these tests serve different purposes. The ACT is a necessity if I plan on attending college, which I do. The AP tests have the potential to give me college credit for the classes I have taken. My class finals will test my proficiency in the subjects I have learned, and will contribute to my class grades as well. SAGE is a statewide test to measure our school district’s proficiency compared to that of other districts. Galileo serves to evaluate our progress throughout the year, as well as to examine our teachers’ success.

When you add up all of these tests, you’ll come to the same startling conclusion as I recently have: most students at Park City High School will have four, if not five, different kinds of tests on their hands this spring and face almost six straight weeks of testing. Students could spend anywhere between twenty and thirty hours testing during this time. I speak for many of my peers when I say that this appears to be quite excessive. A part of this dilemma can be blamed on the extreme testing culture that exists in the United States, but there are changes that we as a district could make to render the spring months more manageable for students. Unfortunately, the majority of these tests are inevitable, at least in America’s current education system. However, at the very least we could reexamine the necessity of the Galileo tests in order to lessen the load.

When it comes to the spring testing season, the Galileo tests tend to be a nuisance both to students and teachers. To us, the students, who have many other exams during this time, Galileo is an annoyance, an extra load of work that does not seem to affect us in the slightest. To teachers, Galileo is a program that uses class time for tests instead of lessons. To both, it seems like a waste of time. When classes are preparing for AP tests or class finals, the last thing we need is to take tests that don’t seem to directly benefit us in any way. Instead, we could be using that valuable class time to review or even cover new material. When comparing the Galileo tests to the other exams I have, I don’t understand how I can improve my future by taking them. And at this point in my life, shouldn’t my future be my top priority? Also, test fatigue is a force not to be underestimated. Exams are mentally draining and take a heavy toll on students. The more tests that we have piling up, the more difficult it is to do well on all of them as we go from test to test, becoming increasingly tired and worn down as the weeks go by.

That’s not to say I am denouncing test taking entirely. I fully understand the value in measuring proficiency and collecting data that is consistent across all teachers and departments. However, there is a fundamental flaw in this system of testing, which appears to simply be a superfluous addition to the myriad of tests students already face. When students do not see the value in an exam, they have no motivation to perform to their best of their ability. Teachers are not allowed to include Galileo scores in students’ grades, and we students get no other benefit for our troubles. As a result, the majority of data collected from these tests is inaccurate. How students tend to perform on the Galileo tests, exams that we are not invested in, do not accurately reflect our abilities. At this point, the Galileo tests do not properly serve their purpose.

I understand the intentions of these tests, and I appreciate the efforts made by our school system to give students the best education possible. However, when it comes to testing, I strongly believe in the old adage “less is more.” Instead of weighing down our students with redundant tests, I suggest using the time as an opportunity to review and further our learning. The weeks of time gained would prove invaluable and translate to higher success rates on our other exams. I know that our school board makes every decision with the students’ best interests in mind, and I hope that the same will be true when it comes to testing this spring.