Wichita Principal Disciplined for Concealed Surveillance Camera in Bathroom

East High School principal Kenneth Thiessen will be disciplined after a student found a video camera in a boys bathroom last week in violation of district policy.

District spokeswoman Susan Arensman said Thursday that superintendent Winston Brooks will decide what action will be taken.

Thiessen did not return a phone call Thursday.

Charles Rogers, 15, the East High freshman who discovered the camera and took it home, was suspended Tuesday but can return Monday, said his mother, Melinda Rogers.

The camera was in an entry area separated by a door from the bathroom's interior, Arensman said.

It was meant to watch for students writing graffiti on the walls, she said, but it was a bad judgment call by Thiessen.

She said district policy bans cameras in school bathrooms. The policy requires the superintendent's approval ahead of time for the use of any concealed cameras.

Most schools have exterior security cameras. School administrators decide whether to allow cameras in the hallways.

Melinda Rogers said her son discovered the camera after coming across a television Friday in a hallway off a third-floor auditorium balcony.

"He saw the television set, turned it on, saw the bathroom, and he recognized it," she said. "It was the bathroom that's next to his locker."

She said he waited until Monday after school to take the camera down, and he was suspended Tuesday after the act was caught on video.

She said he took it down because it wasn't supposed to be there and he thought he wouldn't get in trouble.