蜜桃影视

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The Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia鈥檚 largest district, has a systemwide problem protecting students鈥� privacy, the state education agency said Friday, calling for additional training of staff it said were either 鈥渘ot aware of the precautions that should be taken鈥� or weren鈥檛 鈥渟ensitized鈥� to the issues.

The finding stems from a complaint brought by a Fairfax parent and special education advocate  in December after she inadvertently received data on roughly 35,000 students, including special education records, confidential legal memos and mental health conditions. 蜜桃影视 first reported the disclosure Nov. 1. The records included full names of students involved in lawsuits against the district over alleged sexual assault complaints and those seeing counselors for issues such as suicidal thoughts and depression.

The 180,000-student district has until March 25 to appeal the state鈥檚 finding or complete a 鈥渃orrective action plan鈥� that includes some steps the district has already agreed to, such as additional staff training.

That training, however, was supposed to begin Oct. 31, according to the district鈥檚 response to an earlier complaint from the same parent. But during a with a parents group, a district official acknowledged the training had yet to start . 

鈥淭hat is going to be launched fairly shortly,鈥� said Dawn Schaefer, who oversees special education complaints for the district. 鈥淚 don’t have an exact launch date, but I can certainly check.鈥� 

In its decision, the state noted the district鈥檚 failure to address the repeated violations.

鈥淎 perfect policy is of no use if people ignore it,鈥� wrote Patricia Haymes, the director of dispute resolution at the Virginia Department of Education. 鈥淧erfect procedures are meaningless if no one follows them.鈥�

Haymes ordered the district to provide a list of all students affected by the disclosure and to verify that their parents have been notified. The district must also submit monthly progress on its implementation of recommendations of the Superintendent Michelle Reid launched following 蜜桃影视鈥檚 reporting. The state noted the article in its response to the district.

The state鈥檚 finding backs up what some Fairfax parents have been saying for years 鈥� that district staff members have a pattern of sharing confidential emails and student records with the wrong parents and educators. Experts praised the state for pushing for additional training, but one questioned whether the requirements go far enough, calling them 鈥渇airly lackluster.鈥� 

鈥淚 don’t know that the families harmed will feel like this is sufficient oversight of the issue,鈥� said Amelia Vance, president of the Public Interest Privacy Center. 鈥淭rust has been breached between the community and the district, and more is necessary to fix this.鈥�

Nonetheless, she gave Fairfax鈥檚 superintendent credit for being transparent about the district鈥檚 mistake and promptly issuing an apology. The district declined to comment on the outcome of the state complaint.

鈥楢 bigger Band-Aid鈥�

Virginia officials previously accepted the district鈥檚 assurances that the disclosures were isolated incidents. In mid-December, a state hearing officer said 鈥渁 series of mistakes鈥� doesn鈥檛 necessarily add up to a 鈥渟ystemic violation.鈥澛�

The state has 鈥渁lways said it鈥檚 a one-off. They operate as if each incident is a silo,鈥� said Callie Oettinger, the parent who gained access to the unredacted records in mid-October when she went to a high school to examine files on her own two children. She made the request under the federal , or FERPA, which gives parents the right to examine their children鈥檚 education records.

Pointing to larger concerns in the district, her complaint noted 鈥渙verlapping鈥� privacy violations that officials were already investigating between March and mid-November last year, including the large October records release and a November incident in which Robinson Secondary School, a seventh through 12th grade school, mailed students鈥� report cards to the wrong parents. 

Oettinger called the remedy 鈥渁 bigger Band-Aid鈥� compared with steps the district already agreed to take, including lawyers signing off on record requests before they are released to parents. 

But Todd Reid, a spokesman for the state education department, called the corrective action plan an 鈥渋ntensive requirement of both federal and state special education law鈥� to ensure districts make improvements within a specific time frame. 

鈥楴ot letting it slide鈥�

Another privacy expert blamed these types of mistakes on the 鈥渃onvergence鈥� of more student data, new technologies and parents who want access to records electronically. Steve Smith, founder of the , a national network, said the district should be using systems that 鈥渞educe the likelihood of inadvertent sharing.鈥�

But, he added, the backlash from parents can force a district to take better precautions. 

鈥淭hese things becoming public and the school community losing confidence probably has more impact than a warning from the FERPA office or the state,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 applaud parents for not letting it slide.鈥�

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