12/12/2016
Dear MVLA families,
We wanted to update you on some information that was recently published in the San Francisco
Chronicle referring to a Mountain View Police Department investigation involving students at
various local high schools.
The investigation involved social media and sharing of inappropriate images via Dropbox. MVLA
first learned of this incident in August and immediately referred the matter to the Mountain View
Police Department. The police department, which has been meticulously investigating this case
over the past few months, immediately disabled the Dropbox account when they began their
investigation to prevent any further access. Additionally, Mountain View detectives instructed
MVLA administrators to maintain confidentiality in order to ensure that no evidence was
compromised.
Our focus and concern has and always will be for students' safety. For every student that police
interviewed throughout their investigation, they and their families were provided several
counseling avenues. If you would like to speak with someone, be it for this case or for any
reason whatsoever, please, reach out to a school counselor or administrator.
Unfortunately, this case has affected some of our students, and it once again reinforces the
need to educate both students and parents on safety measures surrounding social media and
online activity. Last month, parents were invited to participate in an online safety seminar hosted
by MVLA and the Police Department. Over 200 parents attended this event; for further
information and advice on how to keep your children safe online please visit our website at
www.mvla.net.
As of this writing, police officials are wrapping up their investigation and will be presenting the
case to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office for review by the end of the year. All
individuals and potential victims related to this incident have been notified by the Police
Department during the investigation.
We are in a new age of communication and technology. We are committed to educating our
students to be good digital citizens and partnering with our parents to keep our students safe.
Sincerely,
Jeff Harding, Superintendent, MVLA
Max Bosel, Chief, Mountain View Police Department