Parents alarmed after hearing about California student data transfer
Parents across California have grown concerned after learning that a Sacramento-based federal judge ordered the state Department of Education to release sensitive records for more than 10 million schoolchildren to lawyers and consultants representing special education advocates.
The records include names, some Social Security numbers, home addresses, disciplinary records, medical information and progress reports for students who have attended a California public school since Jan. 1, 2008. Under U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller’s order, access to the data would be tightly controlled by a special master with expertise in cybersecurity.
Parents can register an objection to having their child’s records released but not electronically or by phone. Instead, they must print out a form and send it by mail to Mueller’s office by April 1.
The order has elevated a little-known court case that began when the Morgan Hill Concerned Parents Association alleged in December 2011 that special needs students in the Santa Clara County community have not received a legally required level of public education.
But the scope of the data release has infuriated many parents. Nancy Griffin said she is sympathetic to the interests of the plaintiffs. But she believes the judge’s order involves too much sensitive information, including records belonging to her daughter, who graduated from Rio Americano High School in 2008.
The records pertain to 6.2 million current students and about 4 million previously enrolled.
“A data dump going back to 2008 disturbs me,” she said. “(Some of) these students are now 25 years old. I’m not sure they would want their report cards and progress reports pawed through without understanding the necessity of it. This strikes me as an overly broad amount of data for somebody to sift through.”
Under a process set out by the court, a special master with cybersecurity experience is responsible for ensuring that the data is protected. In a document filed with the court last year, the special master said he “has significant concern about the storage and use of the highly sensitive student data” the state will provide. He noted that a security breach could result in notifying millions of people under state and federal requirements at a cost of millions of dollars.
To guard against that, he proposed a series of risk assessments and safeguards, including a record of all devices and people who access the information. He also suggested that data beParents alarmed after hearing about California student data transfer | The Sacramento Bee:
Video: Automated calls notify parents about release of student information
February 19, 2016
Sacramento City Unified School District made automated calls to families informing them of the legal case regarding the disclosure of student information and advising how parents could file an objection.
