A California court has granted the release of student records under a protective order, stemming from a lawsuit between an organization called the Morgan Hill Concerned Parents Association and the California Department of Education.

In response to the court case Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore) together with Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) and Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) announced on Feb. 17, new student privacy protections to ensure that students’ personal information like social security numbers are appropriately protected at the school district level.

Melendez wrote, "With identity theft at an all-time high, our focus should be on protecting our students, not exposing their personal information unnecessarily. That is why today, I have introduced legislation to protect our students' privacy."

Plantiff's alleged: 

The plaintiffs allege the CDE 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, and have requested access to these records in order to prove their case.  The Defendant denies these allegations.

The information requested: 

The request is for the personal information of children, including 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. This includes name, Social Security number, home address, behavior and discipline information, special education assessments/evaluations, records pertaining to health, mental health and medical information and other demographic information.

The court order allows for the release of sensitive information stored on the California Department of Education databases and network drives to be released to the parties of the lawsuit, their attorneys, consultants, and the court. However, the order does not state the manner in which the information will be released, or details regarding how safeguarding of the sensitive information will be carried out.

What can parents do:

An organization called The Identity Theft Resource Center and Privacy Rights Clearing House issued a press release. The press release states the ITRC, "Believes that all California parents should be aware of this event and need to decide for themselves if they wish to opt-out.  Some families may feel strongly that providing this information for this purpose is something that they want to allow, while others may feel they do not."

Parents of school-aged children throughout California have a deadline to opt-out on the release of their child’s sensitive personal identifying information. The deadline for parents and adult students to object to the disclosure of personal information and records is April 1, 2016.

School districts across the valley have already posted information on their websites with links to an objection form, mailing address and a phone number.

Parents can prevent their child's student records from being released by following simple steps. 

·        Click on this link and complete the objection form (complete one form per child)

·        Mail this completed form via regular mail to:
United States District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller
c/o Clerk of the Court
Robert T. Matsui United States Courthouse
501 I Street, Room 4-200
Sacramento, CA 95814
Attn: Document Filed Under Seal

Additional court documents not attached to opt-out form: 

A court order detailing the security protocols that are to be put in place to safeguard sensitive student information was provided to the ITRC. This document is a public record.  This information was not provided on the opt-out notification.

According to the ITRC, parents should review this document carefully when deciding whether or not to opt-out of sharing their student/s information. There are seven different databases that are encompassed in the attachment to the court order.  They are listed on pages 7-12 of the PDF file.  The data security process can be found on the last two pages of the attachment to the court order.  It should be noted that the concerns regarding appropriate security protocols, and the consequences of lost or compromised data, are discussed in the document.

For more information and the forms required to opt out:

Court Order - Notice of Disclosure

Objection form 

Parents can also go to the following school district websites to find forms:

Murrieta Unified School District  and Temecula Unified School District

Dockets and Filings on history of Morgan Hill Concerned Parents Association and the California Department of Education.