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Nine current and former students have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Lawrence Public Schools, alleging the district’s use of a controversial AI surveillance tool violates student privacy.
The AI tool, called Gaggle, sifts through anything connected to the district’s Google Workspace — which includes Gmail, Drive and other products — and flags content it deems a safety risk, such as allusions to self-harm, depression, drug use and violence. But Gaggle also censors “messages containing innocuous phrases such as ‘called me a,’ ‘called her a,’ ‘very uncomfortable,’ and ‘my mental health’,” the lawsuit alleges.
The district purchased Gaggle in August of 2023 for $162,000 over three years.
The lawsuit, filed Friday, alleges Gaggle violates students’ Fourth Amendment rights protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures and First Amendment rights protecting free expression and a free press.
The plaintiffs for the lawsuit are current and former students from Lawrence High School and Free State High School. The group includes former student journalists at Lawrence High School who reported extensively on Gaggle, alongside artists and photographers whose work was flagged and removed by Gaggle. The defendants are the Lawrence Board of Education, Lawrence Public Schools and Greg Farley, an assistant principal at Lawrence High School.
The lawsuit outlines how student journalists’ notes could be accessed by Gaggle and, therefore, the district, which the lawsuit argues is a violation of legal protections for journalists.
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“Students’ journalism drafts were intercepted before publication, mental health emails to trusted teachers disappeared, and original artwork was seized from school accounts without warning or explanation,” said Harrison M. Rosenthal, an attorney representing the students.
A handful of Lawrence High School journalism students previously argued their files were protected by the Kansas Student Publications Act, legislation that protects student journalists, ensuring editorial independence and shielding them from censorship by school authorities. They argued the Kansas Reporter’s Shield Law, which protects journalists’ confidential notes and sources, prohibited the district from deploying Gaggle and possibly looking through their reporting material. Their arguments have been regularly supported by the Student Press Law Center.
More than a year ago, the student journalists convinced the district to remove their files from Gaggle’s reach. But the lawsuit alleges the district did not actually remove Gaggle surveillance from the journalists’ devices.
The lawsuit also argues the district’s use of Gaggle constituted a “sweeping, suspicionless monitoring program” and violated student rights by flagging and seizing student artwork. It says Gaggle undermines the mental health goals it attempts to address by intercepting appeals for help students may send to teachers or other trusted adults.
The lawsuit describes how then-LHS journalism teacher Barb Tholen repeatedly alerted the district of concerns with Gaggle. Despite the objections, the school board voted 6-1 to renew Gaggle’s contract at its annual organizational meeting last summer.
During this year’s organizational meeting, the board did not vote to renew Gaggle, but Superintendent Jeanice Swift said the contract had not expired and the district planned to continue use of Gaggle this school year. The district and school board have defended Gaggle as a tool to keep students safe online.
The district did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit, but in response to questions last month about Gaggle’s renewal, Swift said the district takes its responsibility to protect students on district devices seriously.
“As our teams continue to work together to review the rapidly changing possibilities and the wide breadth of tools to consider — with AI generated and other potential enhancements available as possibilities to ensure student safety — it is possible that we will learn about more options as we move toward 2026,” Swift said.
School board President GR Gordon-Ross said he could not comment on pending litigation.
The students are seeking a permanent injunction halting the district’s use of Gaggle and a declaration the surveillance policy is unconstitutional. They are also requesting compensatory, nominal and punitive damages, plus attorney’s fees and other costs and relief. They are seeking a jury trial in a federal district courthouse in Kansas City.
“The lawsuit also underscores the national implications of unchecked AI surveillance in public education — and calls on the courts to enforce the constitutional boundaries that local officials have ignored,” Rosenthal said.
The case was filed by Rosenthal, Mark P. Johnson and Jacob S. Margolies of the Kansas City office of Dentons law firm.
A major part of the students’ concerns in the past was the district’s handling of the issue.
During one meeting about Gaggle, students said they were told by a district administrator their arguments meant they valued student press rights over efforts to curtail student suicide. Later, students said, they were asked not to bring a lawyer to discuss the issues at a March meeting despite the district choosing to bring a lawyer of its own.
The lawsuit described an incident in which school officials questioned students after their work was flagged by Gaggle. But the work had complied with school policy and had been approved by faculty, Rosenthal said.
“The district has implemented an unconstitutional surveillance regime that subjects students to continuous, suspicionless digital searches of their files, emails, and documents — chilling speech, silencing journalism and triggering invasive investigations based on innocuous schoolwork,” Rosenthal said.
The Student Press Law Center last year named Lawrence High graduates Natasha Torkzaban, Maya Smith, Morgan Salisbury and Jack Tell as finalists for the 2024 Courage in Student Journalism Award for their reporting on Gaggle. The Kansas Scholastic Press Association awarded the students its Courage in Journalism Awards. Three of the students are plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
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Cuyler Dunn (he/him), a contributor to The Lawrence Times since April 2022, is a student at the University of Kansas School of Journalism. He is a graduate of Lawrence High School where he was the editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper, The Budget, and was named the 2022 Kansas High School Journalist of the Year. Read his complete bio here. Read more of his work for the Times here.
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Four student journalists have been recognized for their courage in defending freedom of the press during their senior year at Lawrence High School.
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As part of a busy annual organizational meeting Monday, Lawrence school board members approved a renewal of Gaggle, the district’s student surveillance software, and a 10-cent increase to student meal prices. They also voted on the next board president and VP.
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