California Student Data Release: Court Changes Course

Until recently, there was a chance that your child’s name, home address, social security number, health and mental health records, and other information could be released because of an ongoing lawsuit against the California Department of Education (CDE).

All children who have attended a public school in California since Jan. 1, 2008 were impacted.

But the response from parents concerned about the release of such personal information produced a tidal wave of mail to the court in Sacramento handling the case. The result - the court backtracked.

The issue involves a lawsuit filed against CDE alleging that school districts are not providing adequate educational opportunities to children with disabilities. The two plaintiffs in the case - Morgan Hill Concerned Parents Association and Concerned Parents Association - asked a judge for access to information on all school children in California in an effort to prove their case.

Judge Kimberly Mueller issued an order that could have allowed the release, which included a provision that the information not be disclosed publicly. The information could only be viewed by the plaintiffs, “their attorneys and consultants, and the Court,” according to the CDE Notice of Disclosure of Student Records.

The amount of information included was massive, “Examples of information that is stored on CDE’s databases and network drives includes name, social security number, home address, 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 court gave parents an opportunity to opt-out of the records release. The CDE and local school districts across the state notified parents and posted the information online.

Patrick Gannon of Pleasanton Unified School District told Patch, “We've done significant outreach to our parent communities to share information about the situation and objection form - letter to all parents, targeted outreach to non-English speaking families, follow up communication via school PTAs and school newsletters and information on our web site.”

So many parents sent opt-out letters to the court that it gave up trying to open them all. The letters will be stored in sealed boxes. The court notes, “The court construes the objections in bulk as objecting strongly to public disclosure of personal identifying information contained in the CDE’s educational records.”

In a new order dated March 1, 2016, Judge Mueller removed the option to release the information. Instead, the CDE will maintain control of student records, and plaintiffs in the lawsuit must submit queries to obtain needed information.

That’s what parents and school districts had been concerned about all along. Laura Boss of Temecula Valley Unified School District told Patch, “As an organization, we are committed to ensuring the privacy of our students records.”