Laptops and "Leadership" well assist head

[kevin_lane]

Me and my team have just been to a meeting where by a trolley worth about 5K was left out over night in our maths department last week (this isn't the first time) so being that may, I decided to remove the laptops with the help of tech and placed them in our back office.....a week has past.....thinking to my self before this week had past the surely someone would notice that the laptops had gone missing....NO....

 

an email came through from the said maths department and wanted to know where the laptops were. we explained what had happened and next thing we know is that we are being pull into a meeting by " head" because we have remove the resources from the department and from the pupils that needed then ( this wasn't the case and the said laptops where being used as pupil loans) and a long and lengthy debate was underway....

 

I would like to know if I was in the right in doing what I did and has anyone ever done the same thing at there school?

[rom1984]

Are the laptops in a lockable trolley?

 

I can kind of see both sides, you have an onus to protect the assets that you manage and if you felt there was a chance they could have been stolen then imo you are well within your rights to remove them.

 

But... I suppose the right thing would have then been to notify middle management / SLT to tell them. From the heads point of view students have been put at a disadvantage of not having the resources available that the school have paid for because of a communication problem between staff that could have been prevented.

Edited March 22, 2016 by rom1984

[DavidHolderness]

I understand the point you were trying to make but there's no way this will go down well with SLT.

 

To them you're not making a point to the teachers, you're denying resources to students. Resources that, dare i say it, are hard to come by.

 

The correct procedure in this case is go to SLT and cause a stink about the issue, preferably to the headteacher in charge of curriculum (or equivalent role) or the school business manager,

[Edu-IT]

But it's taken them a week to want to use them, and, you've made them available immediately. I'm not sure I see the issue. It's not as if you've hidden them for a week.

[E_G_R2]

Remove Laptops, email head of Maths and cc other SLT on day it happened. Covers most bases IMO with a paper trail.

[adamholt1]

Very tricky one as i see both sides however got to agree I wouldn't imagine this would go down with any SLT.

 

Ultimately they are the schools resources, not the IT department. The students have lost out in a way and the Head/SLT won't take kindly to that.

 

As said earlier in the post, the correct procedure should of been to report what had gone on first, second, third.... time about the security rather than move them to create annoyance. I can't see many end of term chocolates coming your way from the Maths department!!

 

Everyone does things that annoy and frustrate but it's not personal! Makes everything 100x easier if everyone gets on!

 

After all we are employed to assist ultimately to aid and benefit teaching and learning.

[rom1984]

But it's taken them a week to want to use them, and, you've made them available immediately. I'm not sure I see the issue. It's not as if you've hidden them for a week.

 

In fairness though they have been hidden and it sounds like alot of unnecessary time wasting went into getting them back.

 

From the teachers point of view, they've spent the time planning to include the laptops, then probably spent a few minutes looking for them because they are not where they should be, then an email was sent around, then they needed to send someone to get them back.

 

All this time should have been spent teaching and learning not looking for laptops.

 

I don't think anyone would disagree with the TS point that laptops need to be secure, its more the way it's been gone about. It just comes across as a bit "underhand" which I'm sure wasn't the intention.

[hardtailstar]

Why didn't you just move them back to their home and send a strong email?

 

Moving the laptops to look like they are stolen isn't worth the time or hassle.

[robjduk]

I had a similar experience with my MFL department never locking their laptops or caring when they went missing. After a few terms of repeatedly asking them to lock them or at least check their rooms for the missing ones, I wrote and said I was going to stop moaning but in turn, would not be repairing or replacing damaged hardware without the headmasters say.

 

Each school is different in how it copes with your situation however in most cases I would recommend emails with increasingly senior members of the SLT CC'd in so it is logged and kinda stop worrying so much about it. I used to get so annoyed about stuff like this but as soon as you say to yourself "nuts to it, I just wont push to upgrade their stuff in future as they dont look after it" your job gets so much easier.

[twin--turbo]

We told staff that any laptops left lying around, staff or student would be removed. The building was very open plan with self service lockers.

 

If a member of staff could not find their laptop they were to report it lost to the deputy head. She would check with us and if we had it the staff member could claim it. Key point was to set the rule with SLT at the start. SLT were not immune from the system either.

 

Still had laptops disappear occasionally though. 1st was within 2 days of issue.

 

And one department bleated for 3 yrs for a set of laptops. 6 weeks after getting some we found them strewn round the department (not in the trolley) , flat batteries, keys ripped off, screens damaged. We took the damaged ones away and it took 3 weeks for them to notice.

[Edu-IT]

In fairness though they have been hidden and it sounds like alot of unnecessary time wasting went into getting them back.

 

From the teachers point of view, they've spent the time planning to include the laptops, then probably spent a few minutes looking for them because they are not where they should be, then an email was sent around, then they needed to send someone to get them back.

 

All this time should have been spent teaching and learning not looking for laptops.

 

I don't think anyone would disagree with the TS point that laptops need to be secure, its more the way it's been gone about. It just comes across as a bit "underhand" which I'm sure wasn't the intention.

What if they had been stolen though? At least this way there were secured.

Edited April 3, 2016 by Edu-IT

[forkies]

I had a similar situation with staff laptops... I now have to leave a "courtesy card" saying the laptops have been secured by me so the staff member knows where it is. I did state that was counteracting my point as I was also timing how long it took them to report the missing laptop to me which I should be doing under my duty to test and report on DPA. The main win for me was I had written it into my staff IT policy which had been through SLT and governors and approved so I could not be in the wrong. However upon this incident they advised me to make and leave "courtesy cards".

 

I have since refused to secure laptops left but instead email and record that laptops where left insecure, which is a minor breach of our IT policy and upon a member of staff reaching 3 of these minor warnings they then have a formal meeting under the staff misconduct policy. This again has been written into the IT policy signed off by governors.

 

I would suggest you look at making sure this is in your IT policy same as mine. At the end of the year (each term when I started doing it) I sent a list of all the incidents to my line manager and head teacher with total potential cost to the school, and a reminder we could be fined under the DPA if a laptop is stolen which contains sensitive data. This helped gain support of SLT when they saw money figures!

[kevin_lane]

@forkies Humm that sound like a good idea I might have to pick your brains about this.

[NB9457]

There's a lot of politics involved with things like this.

 

We kind of gave up in the end, stating to SLT, whilst we will manage and repair them, it's down to staff to look after. Quite a few laptops and iPads 'went missing' but the staff were never disciplined for it, they simply got replaced. Annoyed the hell of out me the fact that an adult, never mind a student, can't look after a laptop or iPad. It really isn't hard.

[CamelMan]

Can you not just say that you found them abandoned - when checking though you found multiple build errors, which you were correcting until someone claimed them?

 

And that you were going to email out once all issues were resolved....

[Areku]

here the responsibility it totally with the department.

they leave them unlocked fine.

however we audit them at regular intervals, and any missing or damaged the department gets charged for.

 

most departments soon start to manage their own devices when they are the ones footing the bill.

[TechMonkey]

I would do the same thing with the addition of letting someone in SLT know. I have done this before and other estates teams would do this also, although kit would normally be given to us with a run down of where it was found.

 

The worry I would flag is that it took a week for them to realise that 5K of kit was missing and had no clue where it was. That is what I would emphasise. Talk to your bursar and find out what the process for lost/stolen kit is and what would happen with 5K of kit. Considering at a previous place I had a parent try and walk out with a PC and monitor trying to claim that the IT department had asked him to have a look I would say that security is everyone's business and should be emphasised more. We were lucky that a clued up receptionist was still on duty and said she couldn't let him out without say so of the IT Dept.

 

If you want to have a back-out strategy I would apologise profusely and say you found them left out, secured them and then forgot as they are not part of your normal day to day duties and something important came up. Then mention that it does highlight issues in the protection of assets. Try and find out what they did, did they speak to the last person who had them, did they even know who had them last?

[forkies]

Here is some extracts of what is in our Staff IT Policy, hope you can use this.

 

Here is what it states in our IT policy for staff:

 

Physical security (section):

The users of ICT equipment should always adhere to the following guidelines:

-Any portable computer must be securely locked away when not in use. This includes keeping it out of sight. It should not be kept in plain view in a locked classroom. This is due to use of facilities for external bookings. The IT Team will make regular checks to remove any laptops for safekeeping where they have been left insecure.

-Do not leave the portable computer unattended in a public place or within the school.

-If the portable computer is to be left unattended for a short time, staff should lock their windows session so that access can only be gained via input of a password.

-Do not leave the portable computer in your car, even if locked and out of sight

-Staff supervising students using ICT equipment should ensure they take reasonable care of such equipment.

 

Breaches of policy (section):

Breach of This Policy

Incidents which are determined to be in contravention of this policy will be assessed for their severity. Investigating such incidents may require the collection and evaluation of user related activity for evidence.

It is not possible to provide an exhaustive list of potential ways in which a user may contravene this policy but in general such breaches will be categorised into one of three levels of severity and each level of breach will carry with it a possible range of sanctions, consequences and/or penalties. In the event a Portable Computer is damaged or lost as a result of non-compliance with this policy or as a result of other negligent action, then you may be required to make a full or partial contribution towards any reparation/replacement costs, at the discretion of the school.

The lists below are examples and are not an exhaustive list of breaches for each category.

 

Minor Breach

This level of breach will attract a verbal warning which will be held recorded on their staff file. In general this category will relate to behaviour or misuse of computer facilities that can be characterised as disruptive or a nuisance. Examples of this level of non-compliance would include:

 

Not all first offences will automatically be categorised at this level since some may be of a significance or impact that elevates them to one of the higher levels of severity. Examples of this level of non-compliance would include:

-Leaving a laptop unattended.

-Leaving a account logged in and unattended.

 

Moderate Breach

This level of breach will attract more substantial sanctions and/or penalties. Examples of this level of non-compliance would include:

Repeated minor breaches within a 12 month period.

-Assisting or encouraging unauthorised access.

 

Severe Breach

This level of breach will attract more stringent sanctions, penalties and consequences than those above, and access to computing facilities and services may be withdrawn (account suspension) until the disciplinary process and its outcomes have been concluded. Examples of this level of breach would include:

-Repeated moderate breaches.

-Theft, vandalism or wilful damage of/to ICT facilities, services and resources.

-Attempting to jeopardise, damage, circumvent or destroy ICT systems security.

-Attempting to defraud the school of a school owned laptop.

 

Process

An investigation will be carried out, in confidence, by school Leadership under the direction of the Head Teacher with the IT Network and Systems Manager. That investigative report will be passed to the staff member’s Line Manager to be considered within the academy’s disciplinary procedures. Each set of disciplinary procedures provide for an appeal stage.