California State PTA Notice - Protect your Student's Privacy

The California State PTA has requested that we share the following in regards to your Student's Privacy:

California State PTA Comments on Release of 10 Million Students’ Personal Information
February 17, 2016

• Spanish

Media Contacts:

• VP for Communications, communications@capta.org
• Director of Communications and Strategic Initiatives, meklund@capta.org

SACRAMENTO – A federal district court ruling now requires that information including the name, Social Security number, home address and more data on every student who attended public school in California since Jan. 1, 2008 – more than 10 million students — must be made available to a court-appointed data analyst so that it can be analyzed on behalf of the Morgan Hill Concerned Parents Association and the Concerned Parents Association. California State PTA President Justine Fischer offered the following statement:

“It’s hard to fathom that a judge would allow such an overexposure of children’s information.

“California State PTA has a long history of upholding the privacy rights of our state’s students, and today is no different. Our organization stands against this dangerous ruling to release children’s names, Social Security numbers and much more, which even the plaintiffs note goes far beyond the general demographic information they sought to research.

“As the bridge between families, schools and communities, we will be working at the state and local levels to inform families of this issue and the April 1 deadline to voice their objection to this onerous information release, which places an undue burden of time, expense and worry on parents whose children these privacy laws were created to protect.

“We are committed to children’s privacy and will be further exploring ways to protect our most vulnerable Californians – our children – against the violation of their personal rights.”

The court ruling requires the release of each student’s name, Social Security number, demographics, course information, statewide assessment results, teacher demographics, program information, behavior and discipline information, progress reports, special education assessment plans, special education assessments/evaluations, Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), records pertaining to health, mental health and medical information, student statewide identifiers (SSID), attendance statistics, information on suspensions and expulsions, and results on state tests. The Objection to Disclosure of Student Information and Records form in English and Spanish can be found online at the California Department of Education website at www.cde.ca.gov/re/di/ws/morganhillcase.asp.