April 3, 2020
Dear Parents/Guardians, Students, and Staff,
The Verona Public Schools has made the decision to move away from the Zoom platform for live video conferences with students. We have received reports from neighboring school districts who have shared numerous reports of inappropriate online behavior, a practice known as “
Zoom-bombing.”
A few of our teachers in the Verona Public Schools have experienced Zoom-bombs minor in nature. These instances were innocuous enough, but there are reports across the country of hackers dropping in on Zoom meetings and using racially charged hate speech and inserting other offensive material into these conferences. Additionally, there are recent concerns with Zoom in
protecting user privacy and security. As a result, we will discontinue using Zoom as a digital instructional tool, effective April 13th, to safeguard the safety, security and privacy of all of our students and teachers. As a result, the Verona Public Schools will only use Google Hangouts/Meet for its live video conferencing with our students. Our school district has been a Google Suite for Education district for years, and in consultation with our Manager of Information Technology, it is our belief at this time that our Google tools afford us a stronger level of online security and privacy for our teachers and students.
As a school district, we will continue to meaningfully support your child. If you have any other questions, please contact your building principal. Thank you and we wish you and your family continued health and safety.
Sincerely,
Dr. Charles R. Miller
Director of Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment
