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ACLU Urges Miami-Dade School Board to Rethink Proposal to Release Student Information to Military, College Recruiters
January 15, 2003
MIAMI ? Saying a proposed school board policy regarding the release of student information to military and college recruiters fails to protect privacy rights, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Miami Chapter today asked members of the School Board of Miami-Dade County Public Schools to revamp the plan so that parents and students are fully informed of their rights under the law.
"We're urging the school board to reject this proposal and to send this policy back for further staff analysis because it fails to adhere to federal law and does not adequately protect the privacy rights of Miami-Dade School District students," said ACLU Miami Chapter President Lida Rodriguez-Taseff.
In a memo sent today, the ACLU expressed concern about a proposed amendment to the School Board Rule on Student Records that broadens the categories of directory information that may be released about students. As proposed, the school board rule adds student photographs, e-mail addresses and unlisted phone numbers to the information that is publicly available to anyone requesting it.
The school board will consider the proposed amendment (Item C-21) at a meeting at 1 p.m. today at the School Board Administration Building, 1450 N.E. 2nd Avenue, in downtown Miami. The proposed amendment is on-line at the Dade School Board website. To read the entire agenda, click here.
"We question whether parents want the e-mail addresses and picture of their child publicly available to anyone who wants it, whether parents want their unlisted phone number available to the public, or, given the strong international make-up of Miami-Dade County and the very real concern about discrimination based upon national origin, whether parents and students want their place of birth available to the general public," according to ACLU Staff Counsel Rosalind Matos.
The proposed amendment is ostensibly designed to comply with the federal "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2002, which mandates that schools share student contact information, including names, addresses and phone numbers, with military recruiters or institutions of higher education upon request.
The "No Child Left Behind Act" (NCLB) gives parents the right to "opt-out" of the directory. But the ACLU argues the school board's proposed "Directory Information Opt-Out Form" violates the NCLB because it only gives parents an "all-or-nothing" option, so they cannot, for instance, choose to release the information to college recruiters and not the military.
The ACLU also argues the school board proposal merely notifies parents that "directory information" may be released, rather than outlining ? as required by the federal Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) ? the specific type of information that would be disclosed. The proposed amendment also fails to comply with FERPA because it does not allow students and parents to pick and choose which directory information should be released upon request.
The ACLU is urging school board members to include protections in the proposed amendment to fully inform parents of their right to protect private information and choose what type of information should be disclosed and to whom.
"This information belongs to the parents and students, and it is the school board's job to protect that information from unwanted disclosure," added Matos.
Contact: Alessandra Soler Meetze, Communications Director, (305) 576-2337, ext. 16
