School e-mail lesson goes awry

A Sandpoint school official trying to show that a new Internet filtering system won’t stop all inappropriate computer use decided to illustrate his point by sending school district employees an e-mail with images of fruit, flowers and objects that resembled human genitalia, buttocks and nude bodies.

Jim Bangle, who recently resigned as information systems director for the Lake Pend Oreille School District, admitted in an interview Friday that the e-mail he sent Dec. 7 was inappropriate. He also said he sent it while sick at home and under the influence of pain and cold medication.

The message, with 15 images attached, was titled “Nature’s Porn.” Bangle wrote in the e-mail, “Ok…as I said, the filtering is imperfect, but this is ridiculous! ..Oh, come on! Laugh WITH me, people!!!”

His resignation was announced shortly after the incident. But Bangle on Friday said his departure had been in the works long before.

“What’s been getting at me is the implication that this (the resignation) is because of that e-mail. The truth is it’s personal, and personal health,” he said.

He said the message was part of an ongoing dialogue with district staff members about an Internet filter system he installed. Some teachers criticized the system and accused him of hindering their ability to teach and stifling their constitutional rights, Bangle said.

He said his point in sending out the “Nature’s Porn” e-mail was to show that the filter doesn’t catch everything, and that close monitoring of computer use in the classroom is still needed.

Bangle said he received the e-mail in his district e-mail account from someone else in the district, which he said was proof that the filter system couldn’t catch everything.

“It came right through the filters I had just bolstered,” he said.

Bangle said he sent the e-mail using his school district account from home, where he was in bed sick and “stoned out of my gourd” on pain and cold medication.

He first wrote a staff e-mail to explain the new filters and ran it past Superintendent Dick Cvitanich to make sure there were no glaring errors, Bangle said. Then he sent the second one, which drew complaints from some of the recipients.

“I wish I’d run that one by my superintendent, too,” Bangle said.

“There’s a dialogue and there’s a point, even if it’s horribly made,” he continued. “I’m never going to argue that that was appropriate. That was not appropriate. … Even half-stupid and drunk, I would never have taken, like, real porn and sent it out.”

Cvitanich said he heard complaints – he estimated fewer than 15 – about the e-mail after it was sent out.

“We felt that this was very inappropriate,” the superintendent said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s one or 10 complaints. If it’s appropriate, it’s appropriate. If it’s not appropriate, it’s not appropriate.”

The district’s policy on computer use prohibits using school computers for anything other than school-related business.

Asked if Bangle would have been fired had he not already resigned, Cvitanich said, “We have a process that we follow with all staff with regard to issues that might require attention, be they positive or negative. We would follow that process.”

Bangle said had it not been for the pain medication, he would “absolutely” not have sent the e-mail.

“It, in my fog, was just meant to make that point that, ”Hey, look, filtering is not the solution. Lighten up and stop calling me,’ ” he said.

Bangle said he wrote letters of apology to the people who complained about the message. He said many of the responses he got to the e-mail appreciated his attempt to add some levity to what had become a contentious issue over the new system.

“I had several people say thank you for adding a little humor to this conversation,” Bangle said.

Bangle and Cvitanich both said no students saw the e-mail images.

Cvitanich also said the incident underscores the struggles he sees many public agencies and businesses, including the Kootenai County prosecutor’s office, undergo concerning appropriate computer use.

At the county prosecutor’s office, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Rick Baughman is on paid leave after he was accused of sexually harassing two female co-workers. Baughman also sent sexually explicit e-mails to the women, and one of the women sent similar e-mails to Baughman.

“I think it’s a challenge in all walks of life where e-mail is part of the work environment: What’s the appropriate use of that e-mail?” Cvitanich said.

In his first year as superintendent, he said he wants to make sure all members of his staff understand the appropriate use of school computers.

“I don’t believe in the five months I’ve been here that we’ve addressed it with staff,” he said. “We will look forward to making sure that acceptable use is reviewed on a yearly basis within the district and all new staff.”