Pursuant to Education Law section 2D, school districts are now required to publish, on their websites, 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 our District’s bill of rights for data privacy and security:

1. A student’s personally identifiable information (PII) cannot be sold or released by the Otselic Valley Central School District for any commercial or marketing purposes.

2. Parents have the right to inspect and review the complete contents of their child's education record including any student data stored or maintained by the District/BOCES. This right of inspection is consistent with the requirements of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). In addition to the right of inspection of the educational record, Education Law §2-d provides a specific right for parents to inspect or receive copies of any data in the student’s educational record. The New York State Department of Education (NYSED) will develop policies and procedures pertaining to this right.

3. State and federal laws protect the confidentiality of PII, and safeguards associated with industry standards and best practices, including, but not limited to, encryption, firewalls, and password protection, must be in place when data is stored or transferred.

4. A complete list of all student data elements collected by the State is available for public review, click here to see it. or you may obtain a copy of this list by writing to the Office of Information & Reporting Services, New York State Education Department, Room 863 EBA, 89 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12234.

5. Parents have the right to file complaints with the District/BOCES about possible privacy breaches of student data by the District’s/BOCES’ third party contractors or their employees, officers, or assignees, or with NYSED. Complaints regarding student data breaches should be directed to Mrs. Shelly Richards (Executive Principal, Technology & Data Coordinator), Otselic Valley Central School, 125 Co. Rd. 13A, PO Box 161, South Otselic NY 13155. Phone: (315)653-7218; Email: srichard@ovcs.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: Privacy@nysed.org. 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 an appendix to the Parents’ Bill of Rights each contract an educational agency enters into with a third party contractor shall include the following supplemental 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.

To Parent(s)/Guardian(s)/Eligible Students:

This notification is intended to advise you of your rights with respect tot he school records relating to (your son) (your daughter) (you) pursuant to the Federal "Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974.

Parents of a student under 18, or students 18 or older, have a right to inspect and review any and all official records, files, and data directly related to their children or themselves, including all material that is incorporated into each student's cumulative record folder, and intended for school use or to be available to parties outside the school or school system, and specifically including, but not necessarily limited to, identifying data, academic work completed, level of achievement (grades, standardized achievement test scores), attendance data, scores on standardized intelligence, aptitude, and psychological tests, interest inventory results, health data, family background information, teacher or counselor ratings and observations, and verified reports of serious or recurrent behavior patterns.

A parent of a student under 18 years of age or a student 18 years of age or older shall make a request for access to that student's school records, in writing, to the Superintendent of Schools, Guidance Counselor, or Principal. Upon receipt of such request, arrangements shall be made to provide access to such records within a reasonable period of time, but in Amy case, not more than forty-five (45) days after the request has been received.

Parents and students are also entitled to an opportunity for a hearing to challenge the content of such records, to insure that they are not inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the privacy or other rights of students, and to provide an opportunity for the correction or deletion of any such inaccurate misleading, or inappropriate data contained therein. Any questions concerning the procedure to be followed in requesting such a hearing should be directed to the Superintendent.

Student records and any material contained therein which is personally identifiable, are confidential and may not be released or made available to person other than parents or students without the written consent of such parents or student. There are a number of exceptions to this rule, such as other school employees and facials, and certain state and federal officials, who have a legitimate educational need for access to such records in the course of their employment.

Students with disabilities shall have the option of deciding whether to disclose the existence of their disability on their high school transcripts.

SEE ALSO the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 99-Family Educational Rights and Privacy