CMS says strangers may be interrupting classes on Zoom

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools said strangers may be interrupting class Zoom meetings.

Channel 9′s Damany Lewis has been looking into this and said people call it “Zoom bombing.”

CMS said it’s received several reports of “Zoom bombings” in virtual classrooms during their first week of school, as well as last spring semester.

Students at Crestdale Middle School have reported several cases of people “Zoom bombing” this week.

School leaders told Channel 9 that several anonymous people have entered teachers’ classes through Zoom. They said many of the issues are caused by students sharing links with people from other schools.

CMS can’t say how big of a problem it is because they don’t record the number of instances of improper behavior in remote learning.

“There are a lot of ways to secure the platform. We don’t have a number. We have a number of incidents that I have seen,” said Derek Root, CMS’s chief technology officer. “A handful of them, myself and across the nation, we are seeing this happening. What it really boils down to is securing the meeting and knowing who you admit and making sure it is private.”

The district said students who are not following appropriate behavior could be subject to disciplinary action.

Channel 9 reached out to surrounding districts to see what program and app they use.

Cabarrus County said it chose Microsoft Teams because it offered a safe and secure learning environment.

Iredell-Statesville said it uses Zoom and has not had any issues. Union County said it’s using Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Google Meet.

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