Res Publica 2005

SALEM -- The Salem-Keizer School District is among eight U.S. school districts named in documents discovered by U.S. military forces in Iraq that may be linked to al-Qaida, both ABC News and the Associated Press reported Thursday evening.

In addition to Salem-Keizer, the reports said the computer files of a captured Iraqi insurgent named schools from California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The downloaded information found in Iraq -- all publicly available on the Internet -- included a U.S. Education Department report guiding schools on how to prepare and respond to a crisis, as well as photos and floor plans, one government official told the Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity.

While some floor plans were involved, Kay Baker, superintendent of the Salem-Keizer School District, said law enforcement officials told her no floor plans of any Salem schools were found.

# posted by Knitting a Conundrum @ 7:28 PM