Local school officials address student privacy concerns after recent ruling
Local school officials say they have received concerns from parents over the potential disclosure of student information to attorneys as part of a 2012 lawsuit against the California Department of Education.
The lawsuit, filed by the Morgan Hill Concerned Parents Assn. and the Concerned Parents Assn., alleged noncompliance by local educational agencies under the Individuals with Disabilities Act, although the California Department of Education denies the allegations, according to a statement.
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Most recently, the state Department of Education has advised school districts to inform parents how to object to the potential release of the information before an April 1 deadline to file objections.
“The court has said that it will not provide the student data to the plaintiffs unless it determines that plaintiffs have the ability to secure it,” according to a statement by the California Department of Education.
Under the California Education Code, student records are protected, unless they are ordered to be released by a court order, said Kelly King, assistant superintendent. of Glendale Unified, when reached by phone Tuesday.
At the request of State Supt. Tom Torlakson, local school districts, including Glendale and Burbank, are letting parents know how to object to the potential release of the data, which could include students’ names, addresses and special education programs in which they have been enrolled, King said.
The lawsuit alleges that students with disabilities have not received a free and appropriate public education.
“We’re sharing this information with our parent community. PTA chapters are sharing with their parents. Parents can individually decide if they want to object to this information being shared in the court,” King said.
In Burbank, school board member Larry Applebaum said during a meeting on Thursday that he has sensed parents’ frustration over the potential disclosure of data.
He and Burbank Supt. Matt Hill confirmed that local districts are not releasing any student information — a current misperception among some parents.
“People have the mistaken belief that we’re going to be sending information from Burbank Unified, uploading it to some place,” Applebaum said.
“As far as Burbank Unified school district, we won’t directly release any information, but the California Department of Education already has some information,” Hill said.
If the information is ultimately released to the plaintiffs, it would not be made public, King said.
“There is an expectation of confidentially. It’s sealed within the court,” she said, adding that the information would only be used in relation to the case. “It’s not information they can then use in the future.”
Both Glendale and Burbank school districts have posted links to the objection forms on the main pages of their websites, gusd.net and burbankusd.org, respectively.
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Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
