Yes, if that is the case then the school really stepped in it. I would be curious if it was spelled out in paperwork that the school may logon when the laptops were assigned to the students. But here we are talking about cameras installed in public with views of public areas, not laptops.
UPDATE 2/21/10
From CNN
"In an "acceptable-use" agreement, the families are made aware of the school's ability to "monitor" the hardware, he said, but it stops short of explicitly explaining the security feature. He termed that a mistake."
So they knew they could be monitored when they got the computer.
Apples and oranges
Yes, if that is the case then the school really stepped in it. I would be curious if it was spelled out in paperwork that the school may logon when the laptops were assigned to the students. But here we are talking about cameras installed in public with views of public areas, not laptops.
UPDATE 2/21/10
From CNN
"In an "acceptable-use" agreement, the families are made aware of the school's ability to "monitor" the hardware, he said, but it stops short of explicitly explaining the security feature. He termed that a mistake."
So they knew they could be monitored when they got the computer.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/19/laptop.suit/index.html?hpt=Sbin