Technology

Parent’s Bill of Rights for Data Security & Privacy

The Harrisville Central School District is committed to ensuring student privacy in accordance with local, state and federal regulations and district policies. To this end and pursuant to U.S. Department of Education (DOE) regulations (Education Law §2-d), the district is providing the following Parents’ Bill of Rights for Data Privacy and Security.

A student’s personally identifiable information cannot be sold or released for any commercial or marketing purposes. Parents have the right to inspect and review the complete contents of their child’s education record, including any student data maintained by the Harrisville Central School District. This right of inspection of records is consistent with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

Under the more recently adopted regulations (Education Law §2-d), the rights of inspection are extended to include data, meaning parents have the right to inspect or receive copies of any data in their child’s educational record. The New York State Education Department (SED) will develop further policies and procedures related to these rights in the future.

State and federal laws protect the confidentiality of personally identifiable information 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. A complete list of all student data elements collected by the state is available for public review.

Parents may also obtain a copy of this list by writing to:

Office of Information & Reporting Services
New York State Education Department
Room 863 EBA
89 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12234

Parents have the right to have complaints about possible breaches of student data addressed. Complaints should be directed to:

Mr. Robert Finster
Superintendent of Schools
14371 Pirate Lane
Harrisville, NY 13648

Complaints can also be emailed to Mr. Robert Finster at rfinster@hcsk12.org.

Complaints to SED should be directed to:
Chief Privacy Officer
New York State Education Department
89 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12234

The e-mail address is cpo@mail.nysed.gov. SED’s complaint process is under development and will be established through regulations from the department’s chief privacy officer, who has yet to be appointed.

Additional student data privacy information

This bill of rights is subject to change based on regulations of the commissioner of education and the SED chief privacy officer, as well as emerging guidance documents from SED. For example, these changes/additions will include requirements for districts to share information about third-party contractors that have access to student data, including:

• How the student, teacher or principal data will be used;
• How the third-party contractors (and any subcontractors/ others with access to the data) will abide by data protection and security requirements;
• What will happen to data when agreements with third-party contractors expire;
• If and how parents, eligible students, teachers or principals may challenge the accuracy of data that is collected;
• and Where data will be stored to ensure security and the security precautions taken to ensure the data is protected, including whether the data will be encrypted.

View the Smart Schools Bond Act Preliminary Plan

Third-party contracts

Learn more about the vendors we work with through St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES and Capital Region BOCES.

Data Security and Privacy Policy

Review our policy on Privacy and Security for Student Data and Teacher and Principal Data.

Contact information

If you would like more information, please contact:

Mr. Robert Finster
Superintendent of Schools
14371 Pirate Lane
Harrisville, NY 13648

You may also email Mr. Robert Finster at rfinster@hcsk12.org. More information is also available on the following websites:

• New York State Department of Education guidance document issued on July 29, 2014.
• Privacy Technical Assistance Center (PTAC): Newly established one-stop resource for education stakeholders to learn about data privacy.