California school districts were made aware that students’ information will be released due to a court order from the California Department of Education (CDE). The Morgan Hill Concerned Parents Association and the Concerned Parent Association, filed a lawsuit against the CDE.

The data that will be released ranges from Social Security numbers, mental health records and home addresses. The data also includes information about children with disabilities, children who requested an assessment or who were assessed for special education eligibility, and children who are attending or who have attended a California school at any time since January 1, 2008.

According to the Los Angeles Times, “The groups allege that the state is not providing a free and appropriate public education to children with disabilities, as required by law.” However, the CDE is denying the allegations. Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez felt the CDE did not need all this information.

Senior Andrea Estrada said that she was not aware of the issue. But when told about it she said, “The courts should have the student’s permission because the court might use the private information for different reasons. I feel the students should receive accurate information about how their personal information will be used.”

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) gives protection of privacy for parents and students, including student records being kept private. According to the GUSD website, “The CDE is obligated to inform the parent or student that the court has ordered it to produce documents and/or data that includes those individuals’ Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and that such persons may object directly to the court regarding this disclosure.”

“If all the information is turned in [to the Court], the cat is already out of the bag,” said Susan Newcomer, Clark’s library media teacher. “The information available makes it more vulnerable to hackers.”
Parents can object to the students information being used in court by going to Education Department’s website, cde.ca.gov, or http://www.cde.ca.gov/morganhillcase available from February 1, 2016, through April 1, 2016. The objection form must be submitted to the court by April 1, 2016.