The Washington Post has an article with more details on SchoolSpyGate. Looks like the FBI is investigating, and there are few more interesting tidbits- such as the cameras were activated 42 times in the past 14 months. 2,300 laptops in the hands of students, 42 is about 2%, not an outrageous number if the uses were indeed for missing laptops, and the school district says that 28 laptops were recovered through the monitoring system. But the more I read about this mess, the more questions I have. I am glad the FBI is involved, but I am not certain they will help us get the truth. The FBI is tasked with investigating potential federal crimes, and that's what they're looking for- they aren't doing (or authorized to do) a full forensic investigation and analysis of the situation and how it got to this point, they are looking for evidence of specific crimes. The good news is the FBI does have plenty of competent agents who can process the case without spoiling evidence for state and civil investigations. There is also the danger that if the FBI says there is no evidence of a federal crime, that will give the school district cover for their behavior.
What a mess.
Jack