Federal Court Instructs Ohio Districts to Post Information for Parents Concerning Data Release
A U.S. District Court has ordered that 2013-2014 school year records from
the Ohio Department of Education’s Educational Management Information
System be turned over to Disability Rights Ohio as part of an ongoing
lawsuit.
Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, families of students
whose data will be released must be notified and given the opportunity to
object. The court is instructing all local education agencies to post
notice about this opportunity to object on their district websites and in a
central location, accessible to the public, in each building that is open
to the public.
*A copy of the notice – which includes instructions on how parents may
object to the data release – can be found here.
The court must receive objections no later than Sept. 12.*
Students’ names, addresses and social security numbers are *not* part of
the information to be released. Ohio is one of only three states that do
not allow their departments of education to collect this data, to protect
student privacy.
Data to be released for each student include student ID number, school
name, grade, gender, race, age and disability category. The records also
reveal student performance on the state’s Ohio Achievement Assessments and
Ohio Graduation Tests, as well as tests related to Ohio’s Third Grade
Reading Guarantee. Student suspensions and expulsions also are listed.
The data is subject to a protective order, which means Disability Rights
Ohio cannot publicize it.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Please contact the Ohio
Department of Education’s legal office at (614) 466-4705 if you have
questions.