Schools ordered to turn over tape

The ruling says the school district has three days to turn over the tape.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Trumbull County Family Court Judge Pam Rintala and Magistrate Monte Horton have ruled that Warren city schools must turn over a videotape of an alleged assault Feb. 10 on one of its buses.
The ruling came in response to a request from Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Mike Burnett, who received a report from police indicating that a 10-year-old girl was accused of knocking a 5-year-old unconscious.
Burnett also seeks information on a second episode on a Warren school bus. That involved middle school pupils and an alleged sexual assault in April.
The school district filed an objection to Burnett's request, saying turning over the tapes would violate the Ohio Student Privacy Act, which prevents school districts from releasing to third parties the names or other personally identifiable information concerning pupils attending a public school without written parental consent.
The court's ruling, however, said that the act prohibits the release of the student's name, parent's name, student or parent's address, Social Security number or other information that would make the student's identity easily traceable.
What's in ruling
"The prosecutor requested the video for the sole purpose of determining if any criminal act took place on the date in question. The request did not include that personal information be disclosed about any individual who appears or may appear on the video," the court wrote.
"Further, even if the Court found the images on the tape to contain personally identifiable information, it still does not make the information inaccessible," the ruling states. "An educational institution may disclose personally identifiable [information] from an educational record to appropriate parties if it is necessary to protect the health and safety of the student or others."
The ruling gives the school district three days to turn over the tape to the prosecutor's office and finds Mark Donnelly, the school's executive director of business operations, in contempt for failing to comply with the prosecutor's subpoena for the videotape.
Burnett has said he wants the tapes because he believes the two juveniles may have committed acts warranting juvenile charges. Warren police have refused to release any information on the second incident.
After the Feb. 10 episode, the 10-year-old girl was expelled from school, and the boy later returned. The bus driver, Irene Foundoulis, was fired from her job and sued the school district to get her job back.
Superintendent Kathryn Hellweg could not be reached Wednesday to comment on the ruling.
runyan@vindy.com