• Royalton-Hartland Central School District Parents' Bill of Rights for Data Privacy and Security

    Parents Bill of Rights

    Parents Bill of Rights for Data Privacy and Security Pursuant to Education Law section 2-d, Royalton-Hartland Central School District is now required to publish, on their website, a parents bill of rights for data privacy and security and to include such information with every contract a school district enters into with a third party contractor where the third party contractor receives student data or teacher or principal data. The following is Royalton-Hartland Central School District’s bill of rights for data privacy and security:

    1. A student’s personally identifiable information (PII) cannot be sold or released for any commercial purpose. PII, as defined by Education Law § 2-d and FERPA, includes direct identifiers such as a student’s name or identification number, parent’s name, or address; and indirect identifiers such as a student’s date of birth, which when linked to or combined with other information can be used to distinguish or trace a student’s identity. Please see FERPA’s regulations at 34 CFR 99.3 for a more complete definition.


    2. The right to inspect and review the complete contents of the student’s education record stored or maintained by an educational agency. This right may not apply to parents of an Eligible Student.


    3. State and federal laws such as Education Law § 2-d; the Commissioner of Education’s Regulations at 8 NYCRR Part 121, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ("FERPA") at 12 U.S.C. 1232g (34 CFR Part 99); Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA") at 15 U.S.C. 6501-6502 (16 CFR Part 312); Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment ("PPRA") at 20 U.S.C. 1232h (34 CFR Part 98); the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) at 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq. (34 CFR Part 300); protect the confidentiality of a student’s identifiable information.


    4. Safeguards associated with industry standards and best practices including but not limited to encryption, firewalls and password protection must be in place when student PII is stored or transferred.


    5. A complete list of all student data elements collected by NYSED is available at www.nysed.gov/data-privacy-security, and by writing to: Chief Privacy Officer, New York State Education Department, 89 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12234.


    6. The right to have complaints about possible breaches and unauthorized disclosures of PII addressed. Complaints may be submitted to NYSED at www.nysed.gov/data-privacy-security; by mail to: Chief Privacy Officer, New York State Education Department, 89 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12234; by email to privacy@nysed.gov; or by telephone at 518-474- 0937.


    7. To be notified in accordance with applicable laws and regulations if a breach or unauthorized release of PII occurs.


    8. Educational agency workers that handle PII will receive training on applicable state and federal laws, policies, and safeguards associated with industry standards and best practices that protect PII.


    9. Educational agency contracts with vendors that receive PII will address statutory and regulatory data privacy and security requirements.

     

    Complaints regarding student data breaches should be directed to:

    Jill Heck

    Director of Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment and Technology 

    54 State Street 

    Middleport, NY 14105 

    jheck@royhart.org 

    Complaints to NYSED should be directed in writing to the Chief Privacy Officer, New York State Education Department, 89 Washington Avenue, Albany NY 12234, email to CPO@mail.nysed.gov. The complaint process is under development and will be established through regulations to be proposed by NYSED’s Chief Privacy Officer, who has not yet been appointed. For purposes of further ensuring confidentiality and security of student data — as well as the security of personally-identifiable teacher or principal data — the Parents’ Bill of Rights (above) and the following supplemental information must be included in each contract that a school district or BOCES enters into with a third-party contractor with access to this information:

    1. the exclusive purposes for which the student data, or teacher or principal data, will be used;
    2. how the third party contractor will ensure that the subcontractors, persons or entities that the third party contractor will share the student data or teacher or principal data with, if any, will abide by data protection and security requirements;
    3. when the agreement with the third party contractor expires and what happens to the student data or teacher or principal data upon expiration of the agreement;
    4. if and how a parent, student, eligible student, teacher or principal may challenge the accuracy of the student data or teacher or principal data that is collected; and
    5. where the student data or teacher or principal data will be stored (described in such a manner as to protect data security), and the security protections taken to ensure such data will be protected, including whether such data will be encrypted. In addition, the Chief Privacy Officer (when appointed), with input from parents and other education and expert stakeholders, is required to develop additional elements of the Parents’ Bill of Rights to be prescribed in the Regulations of the Commissioner. Accordingly, this Bill of Rights will be revised from time to time in accordance with further guidance received from the Chief Privacy Officer, the Commissioner of Education and NYSED.