An unidentified man taken into custody by U.S. authorities in Iraq had a computer disc containing a publicly available federal report on school emergency planning, according to a San Diego school official, who said the district was notified of the incident because the report describes some of the district鈥檚 crisis-response procedures.
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Those descriptions are incorporated into 鈥淧ractical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities,鈥� published in May 2003 by the U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 office of safe and drug-free schools. The FBI notified the San Diego district of the situation, Steven S. Baratte, a spokesman for the school system, said in an interview last week.
The 146-page guide, available on the Education Department鈥檚 Web site, offers school officials tips on security and crisis response.
An FBI official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Sept. 30 that there was no evidence of a threat to the San Diego schools or the other districts mentioned in the report, and that the in tentions of the individual in Iraq could have been harmless. The FBI official said the bureau had passed the information along to the school system as a precaution. The official declined comment on the circumstances or timing of the man鈥檚 detention.
鈥楴o Direct Threat鈥�
The report, is available from the . (Requires .)
San Diego school officials did not notify parents of the matter because of the vague nature of the information and a desire not to cause alarm, Mr. Baratte said.
鈥淭here was no direct threat to schools or the district,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 want to cause undue panic.鈥� All of San Diego鈥檚 schools have crisis-response plans that are reviewed regularly, as required by state law, he said.
The Education Department鈥檚 guide describes the 140,000-student San Diego district鈥檚 approach to responding to crises and coordinating activity with law enforcement and the community. It also outlines crisis-response strategies in the Olathe school district in Kansas, the Boyertown Area School District in Pennsylvania, the Volusia County schools in Florida, and the Hanover County district in Virginia.
Boyertown Superintendent Charles D. Amuso said the report doesn鈥檛 contain sensitive information, only a description of some things the district does well.
The FBI official said the agency had made efforts to get in touch with districts cited in the report over the past several weeks.
