The Board of Education believes that information about individual students must be compiled and maintained in the interest of the student’s educational welfare and advancement. The Board will strive to balance the student’s right to privacy against the district’s need to collect, retain, and use information about individual students and groups of students.

FERPA: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, applies to all institutions that are recipients of federal aid administered by the Secretary of Education. This regulation protects student information and accords student’s specific rights with respect to their data. For more information, see:

CIPA: The Children’s Internet Protection Act was enacted by Congress in 2000 to address concerns about children’s access to obscene or harmful content over the Internet. CIPA imposes certain requirements on schools or libraries that receive discounts for Internet access or internal connections through the E-rate program. Schools subject to CIPA have two additional certification requirements: 1) their Internet safety policies shall include monitoring the online activities of minors; and 2) as required by the Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act, they shall provide for educating minors about appropriate online behavior, including interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms, and cyberbullying awareness and response.

COPPA: The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, regulates operators of commercial websites or online services directed to children under 13 that collect or store information about children. Parental permission is required to gather certain information.

PPRA: The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment affords parents and minor students’ rights regarding our conduct of surveys, collection and use of information for marketing purposes, and certain physical exams. These include the following:

A right to consent before students are required to submit to a survey that concerns one or more of the following protected areas (“protected information survey”) if the survey is funded in whole or in part by a program of the U.S. Department of Education (ED)–

1. Political affiliations or beliefs of the student or student’s parent;
2. Mental or psychological problems of the student or student’s family;
3. Sex behavior or attitudes;
4. Illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating or demeaning behavior;
5. Critical appraisals of others with whom respondents have close family relationships;
6. Legally recognized privileged relationships, such as with lawyers, doctors or ministers;
7. Religious practices, affiliations, or beliefs of the student or parents; or
8. Income, other than as required by law to determine program

A right to receive notice and an opportunity to opt a student out of –

1. Any other protected information survey, regardless of funding;
2. Any non-emergency, invasive physical exam or screening required as a condition of attendance, administered by the school or its agent, and not necessary to protect the immediate health and safety of a student, except for hearing, vision or scoliosis screenings, or any physical exam or screening permitted or required under state law; and
3. Activities involving collection, disclosure, or use of personal information obtained from students for marketing or to sell or otherwise distribute the information to others.