April 3, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
CONTACT:
media@aclu.org High
School students and educators from across the state will be gathering in Augusta
at 9:00am on Monday, April 6th to demand protection for their privacy. The
group, which includes students, teachers, principals, superintendents, and
parents, will be addressing the Joint Standing Committee on Education and
Cultural Affairs in support of LD 725 – An Act to Protect Student Privacy while
Complying with Federal Law.
"Mainers care passionately about
their constitutional right to privacy," said Shenna Bellows, Executive Director
of the Maine Civil Liberties Union, "we should not be surprised that Maine
students are equally passionate about how, and why their personal data is being
collected."
Current Maine Department of Education policy mandates
that schools report all names of students involved in any of 39 incidences of
prohibited behavior. The DOE claims that the policy is necessary to meet federal
reporting requirements; however, the policy exceeds these requirements by
collecting, and storing, personal student data.
LD 725, sponsored
by Senator Alfond of Portland, would prevent state officials from gathering the
unnecessary personal records of students while keeping Maine in compliance with
federal laws.
"Our administration adamantly opposes requiring
school districts to release personally identifiable information that may
jeopardize student privacy," said Patricia Hopkins, superintendent of schools
for MSAD 28 and Five Town CSD.
In 2008, Hopkins contacted the MCLU
regarding the DOE reporting policies; primary among her concerns was that if
data is not well protected, students may be discriminated against, or harmed in
the future because of mistakes made in their youth.
