State of California to Release Personal Information on 10 Million Students due to Lawsuit

DUBLIN, CA–Due to a lawsuit by the Concerned Parents Association (and others), an organizations focused on special needs students, the California Department of Education will soon be releasing information regarding 10 million students dating back to 2008.

The extensive personal information to be released includes the “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”, for “every student who attended public school in California since Jan. 1, 2008” (sources: court notice and USA Today). The data will be provided to a data analyst to help assess whether or not “the California Department of Education (CDE), has violated the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”), among other related laws, by failing to monitor, investigate, provide services to, and enforce the rights of children with disabilities consistent with its obligations under the law” (source).

According to the Concerned Parents Association website: “Two non-profit organizations, Morgan Hill Concerned Parents Association (MHCPA) and California Concerned Parents Association (CPA), filed an action against the California Department of Education (CDE) in 2011 alleging that the CDE was not providing California’s children with disabilities with a free appropriate public education (FAPE) as mandated by federal law. In order to vindicate the rights of these children, Plaintiffs’ legal team and experts require access to a limited amount of student data and education outcomes.”

Parents of students since 2008 who are currently minors, or adults who were students during that period, can block the release of their information by printing, signing and mailing this form to the court for each student: https://onedublin.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/objectionletter.pdf. Affected students / former students have until April 1st to take this step (and no, this is not an April Fool’s joke).

Unfortunately the court has not provided any way to do so online.