From http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw105367_20041008.htm
Computer disc found in Iraq contained floor plans, other data on schools in six states including Michigan
October 8, 2004, 5:35 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Education officials in six states including Michigan were put on notice last month that a computer disc found in Iraq over the summer contained photos, floor plans and other information about schools in their districts, two U.S. government officials said.
The downloaded data the U.S. military found in July -- all publicly available on the Internet -- included an Education Department report guiding schools on how to prepare and respond to a crisis, one official said Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The officials said it was unclear who downloaded the information and stressed they had no evidence of any specific threats involving the schools.
The districts mentioned were in California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, New Jersey and Oregon, officials said, adding that the FBI alerted local education and law enforcement authorities of the finding about three weeks ago.
Officials did not provide the names of the districts. But Kay Baker, superintendent of Oregon's Salem-Keizer district, confirmed hers was among them.
"Local law enforcement has no knowledge of a specific threat to any of our school buildings," she said. "We will work collaboratively with law enforcement on any further developments."
Homeland Security Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said, "We are unaware of any specific information that indicates terrorists are plotting or planning an attack at a school here in the United States."
San Diego schools also were included, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune, and ABC News said there was a second California district. The Salem Statesman Journal reported the other districts were Fort Myers, Fla.; Jones County, Ga.; Birch Run, Mich.; and Franklinville and Rumson, both in New Jersey.
The disc contained an Education Department report called "Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities," published in May 2003, as well as photos and floor plans.
Birch Run Superintendent Wayne Wright confirmed that the FBI contacted him two weeks ago.
"They stressed that there is no evidence of any threat involving Birch Run schools," Wright told The Saginaw News for a Friday story. "They said they had uncovered dated information about the computer disc and that they didn't know how credible it was.
"They said they receive thousands of pieces of information each day, and that they have to check each piece out. The main thing they emphasized was that they didn't want to raise a panic, but that they thought I should be informed."
In a separate but more widespread warning put out this week, the Education Department advised school leaders nationwide to watch for people spying on their buildings or buses to help detect any possibility of terrorism like the deadly school siege last month in Russia.
The warning follows an analysis by the FBI and the Homeland Security Department of the siege that killed more than 330 people, nearly half of them children, in the city of Beslan.
"The horror of this attack may have created significant anxiety in our own country among parents, students, faculty staff and other community members," Deputy Education Secretary Eugene Hickok said in a letter sent Wednesday to schools and education groups.
The Education Department's advice is based on lessons learned from the Russian siege. But there is no specific information indicating a terrorist threat to any schools or universities in the United States, Hickok and other officials emphasized.
Federal law enforcement officials also have urged local police to stay in contact with school officials and have encouraged reporting of suspicious activities, the letter said.
In particular, schools were told to watch for activities that may be legitimate on their own -- but may suggest a threat if many of them occur.
Among those activities:
-- Interest in obtaining site plans for schools, bus routes and attendance lists.
-- Prolonged "static surveillance" by people disguised as panhandlers, shoe shiners, or newspaper or flower vendors.
"It's a positive sign that they're finally discussing this after years of downplaying or denying even the possibility of a terrorist strike on schools," said Kenneth Trump, a Cleveland-based school safety consultant. "Public officials are in fear of creating fear, but we have to put the cards on the table, educate people in the school community and make sure they are well prepared."
The federal government is advising schools to take many steps to improve the security of their buildings. Those include installing locks for all doors and windows, having a single entry point into buildings and ensuring they can reach school bus drivers in an emergency.
Associated Press writers Curt Anderson and Ben Feller contributed to this report.
On the Net:
Education Department crisis planning help: http://www.ed.gov/emergencyplan/
The districts mentioned were in California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, New Jersey and Oregon,