Special education groups allege California alarmed parents about data transfer
Special education nonprofits allege that state officials inappropriately alarmed parents across California by using “incomplete or misleading messages” in telling them that sensitive records for 10 million current and former students will be disclosed.
Attorneys for the nonprofits and the California Department of Education are scheduled to appear in a Sacramento federal courtroom Monday to discuss the manner in which public school officials have informed parents of a pending, court-approved data transfer. U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller previously ordered the state to provide extensive student records to the nonprofits’ attorneys in a legal battle over whether schools are providing special education students with the instruction to which they are entitled.
A screenshot of a post on the Rocklin Police Department’s Nextdoor page that tells parents a statewide student data transfer could be an identity theft risk.Nextdoor
Mueller called for the hearing after a San Francisco law firm complained that school districts and the state Department of Education have been encouraging parents to object to the judge’s order to turn over student records to plaintiffs’ attorneys.
The Attorney General’s Office, in its own letter on behalf of the state agency, said that it “categorically denies” allegations that the state has misled the public. The letter said state Superintendent Tom Torlakson “simply reminded parents of their opportunity to object.”
“The public has expressed confusion and fear over the potential release of student data, and have naturally turned to CDE, among others, for guidance,” wrote Deputy Attorney General Julia R. Jackson. The Jackson letter, in turn, described misleading comments by plaintiffs’ representatives.
The data, once released, is to be tightly controlled by a special master who is an expert on cybersecurity and has suggested that the data be encrypted. Mueller’s order bars any public disclosure beyond the parties involved in the federal case, their attorneys, consultants, the special master and the court.
Parents have until April 1 to object by mail to the court about a student’s records sharing. So many objections have been filed that the court said Thursdayit has suspended efforts to provide a weekly count.
The case, Morgan Hill Concerned Parents Association vs. the California Department of Education, drew little attention when it was filed in 2011. But members of the public and some lawmakers were galvanized after Mueller ordered the Department of Education to turn over a broad swath of student records, including names, some Social Security numbers, home addresses, disciplinary records, medical information and progress reports for 6.2 current and 4 million former students who have attended California public school since Jan. 1, 2008.Special education groups allege California alarmed parents about data transfer | The Sacramento Bee: