Disc with data on U.S. schools found in Iraq

* Information taken off Internet on schools in six states found inJuly; systems put on notice

WASHINGTON - Education officials in six states were put on noticelast month that a computer disc found in Iraq over the summercontained photos, floor plans and other information about schools intheir districts, two U.S. government officials said.

The downloaded data the U.S. military found in July - all publiclyavailable on the Internet - included an Education Department reportguiding schools on how to prepare and respond to a crisis, oneofficial said Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The officials said it was unclear who downloaded the informationand stressed they had no evidence of any specific threats involvingthe schools.

The districts mentioned were in California, Florida, Georgia,Michigan, New Jersey and Oregon, officials said, adding that the FBIalerted local education and law enforcement authorities of thefinding about three weeks ago.

Officials did not provide the names of the districts. But KayBaker, superintendent of Oregon's Salem-Keizer district, confirmedhers was among them.

"Local law enforcement has no knowledge of a specific threat toany of our school buildings," she said. "We will work collaborativelywith law enforcement on any further developments."

Homeland Security Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said, "Weare unaware of any specific information that indicates terrorists areplotting or planning an attack at a school here in the UnitedStates."

San Diego schools also were included, according to The San DiegoUnion-Tribune, and ABC News said there was a second Californiadistrict. The Salem Statesman Journal reported the other districtswere Fort Myers, Fla.; Jones County, Ga.; Birch Run, Mich.; andFranklinville and Rumson, both in New Jersey.

The disc contained an Education Department report called"Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools andCommunities," published in May 2003, as well as photos and floorplans.

In a separate but more widespread warning put out this week, theEducation Department advised school leaders nationwide to watch forpeople spying on their buildings or buses to help detect anypossibility of terrorism like the deadly school siege last month inRussia.

The warning follows an analysis by the FBI and the HomelandSecurity Department of the siege that killed more than 330 people,nearly half of them children, in the city of Beslan.

"The horror of this attack may have created significant anxiety inour own country among parents, students, faculty staff and othercommunity members," Deputy Education Secretary Eugene Hickok said ina letter sent Wednesday to schools and education groups.

The Education Department's advice is based on lessons learned fromthe Russian siege. But there is no specific information indicating aterrorist threat to any schools or universities in the United States,Hickok and other officials emphasized.

Federal law enforcement officials also have urged local police tostay in contact with school officials and have encouraged reportingof suspicious activities, the letter said.

In particular, schools were told to watch for activities that maybe legitimate on their own - but may suggest a threat if many of themoccur.

Among those activities:

* Interest in obtaining site plans for schools, bus routes andattendance lists.

* Prolonged "static surveillance" by people disguised aspanhandlers, shoe shiners, or newspaper or flower vendors.

"It's a positive sign that they're finally discussing this afteryears of downplaying or denying even the possibility of a terroriststrike on schools," said Kenneth Trump, a Cleveland-based schoolsafety consultant.