Huntsville City Schools in Huntsville, AL is being accused of racially profiling its own students amid revelations that it paid $157,000 to a former FBI agent to covertly monitor social media postings of public school students, which resulted in the expulsion of 14 children from school.

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Social advocates and critics of the program, called Students Against Fear (SAFe), have raised concerns not only of infringement of the student's freedom of speech protections in cyberspace, but also that 12 of the students expelled were African American. 

"That is effectively targeting or profiling black children in terms of behavior and behavioral issues," said Madison County Commissioner Bob Harrison..

The story was picked up by AL.com, which, after running the averages, found that 78 percent of all expulsions involved black children in a system where the majority of students, 60 percent, are white. Across its district, Huntsville City Schools expelled of 305 students last year, 238 of whom are black. 

Laurie McCaulley, the sole African-American on the Huntsville city school board, told reporters the expulsions stemmed from serious offenses, ranging from weapons, drugs or sex. 

"These numbers tell me that I have kids with some major issues," she said. "What I think the board is doing is trying to provide a safe environment for all children."

After several high-profile instances of violence on school grounds, including the shootings at Sandy Hook, CT, and Marysville, WA, school administrators across the U.S. now institute a zero-tolerance policy regarding potential danger threats; even casual references can be taken as code for a more a serious threat. The SAFe program targeted 600 of Huntsville's 24,000 students over the past year.

AFe operates on tips from students and teachers, which were funneled to ex-FBI operative Chris McRae, who works for security consulting firm T&W Operations, which already has two contracts with the Huntsville School District involving security and IT. 

TagsAlabama, school violence, Internet spying