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East County News Service
April 13, 2016 (San Diego) -- Legislation co-authored by San Diego Assemblymember Lorena Gonzales to protect students’ private information such as Social Security numbers passed the Assembly Education Committee today on a unanimous 7-0 vote.
A recent ruling in Morgan Hill Concerned Parents Association, et al. v. California Department of Education compelled the school system to provide sensitive information – including Social Security numbers, mental health and medical information – for students dating back to 2008 to a parents group in Santa Clara County. Assembly Bill 2097 would prohibit school districts from gathering social security numbers and other sensitive unnecessary information for students except where required by federal law.
“As a mother, I don't want my children's personal information to be needlessly exposed, and this simple legislation will help clarify rules and keep schools out of the business of asking for this private data in the first place,” Gonzalez said.
When announcing the bill in February, the authors of AB 2097 also called on California school districts to proactively provide parents with the California Department of Education’s objection form to lodge their opposition to this exposure of personal and private information about their children.
After widespread public outcry, the judge in the case modified an order to reduce the exposure of sensitive student information. However, absent explicit protections that block third parties from receiving private information, the issue remains discretionary on a case-by-case basis.
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