Parents press West Seneca board for stronger policies after bathroom photos and AI-manipulated images

Three public commenters at the May 7 West Seneca board meeting urged stronger policies to protect students' privacy and safety.

Mark Priore, who identified himself as a 25-year West Seneca resident and a candidate for the 142nd Assembly, raised reports that an eighth-grade student had to come into the high school to change and alleged "the particular student was taking photographs within the bathroom and or the locker room and posting them on social media." He asked the district to re-inform students of social-media rules and to "establish, if there isn't one already, a policy in place" to provide safe, private changing spaces for students who need them.

Danielle Meschewski described an incident in which a classmate allegedly used artificial intelligence to alter a photo of her daughter and others, creating explicit images that were shared. She thanked school administrators and the SRO for their support but said the student who created the altered image received a five-day suspension and remains in school. She asked the board to "review and update schools policy to address doctored images and manipulative AI use" and requested "tough discipline for creators of such material, including expulsion." Meschewski referenced a recent New York Times article and said the FBI has warned distribution of AI-generated child sexual-abuse material may be illegal.

Nicole Malshevsky, who said her daughter was one of the students involved in the earlier referenced incident, cited recent changes to Title IX law and said she had sought accommodations from the school without success. "I send my kid to school every day," she told the board, "I need to know that she's in safe hands." She said community reaction on social media included hundreds of messages from concerned parents.

The board did not respond to commenters during the public comment period; the chair reminded speakers to leave contact information with the district clerk so staff could follow up. No formal disciplinary actions or policy changes were announced at the meeting; several board members later said the district must do a better job of public communication and follow-up.

The concerns raised touch on student privacy, discipline and the legal landscape around distribution of explicit images created with AI and on social-media platforms. The commenters asked for clearer policy language, stronger safeguards for private changing spaces and stiffer disciplinary consequences for those who create or share AI-altered sexual images of students.