The NYS Education Department’s Education Law §2-d Bill of Rights for Data Privacy and Security
The Menands Union Free School District is committed to ensuring privacy in accordance with local, state, and federal regulations and District policies.
To this end and pursuant to U.S. Department of Education regulations, the district is providing the following Parent’s Bill of Rights for Data Privacy and Security.
Parents and eligible students1 can expect the following:
- A student’s personally identifiable information (PII)2 cannot be sold or released for any commercial purpose.
- The right to inspect and review the complete contents of the student’s education record stored or maintained by an educational agency.
- State and federal laws,3 such as NYS Education Law §2-d and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, that protect the confidentiality of a student’s 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.
- A complete list of all student data elements collected by NYSED is available for public review online or by writing to: Chief Privacy Officer, New York State Education Department, 89 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12234.
- The right to have complaints about possible breaches and unauthorized disclosures of student data addressed. Complaints may be submitted to Mrs. Jennifer Cannavo at jcannavo@menands.org or 518-465-4561, or submitted to NYSED online or by mail to: Chief Privacy Officer, New York State Education Department, 89 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12234, by email to privacy@nysed.gov, or by telephone at 518-474-0937.
- To be notified in accordance with applicable laws and regulations if a breach or unauthorized release of their student’s PII occurs.
- Educational agency workers that handle PII will receive training on applicable state and federal laws, the educational agency’s policies, and safeguards associated with industry standards and best practices that protect PII.
- Educational agency contracts with vendors that receive PII will address statutory and regulatory data privacy and security requirements.
Reference: New York Education Law § 2-d(3)(a)
Adopted: 2/8/2021
Menands’s Data Privacy and Security Policy
Supplemental Information
* Menands UFSD and South Colonie Central School District have a shared services agreement.
1 “Parent” means a parent, legal guardian, or person in parental relation to a student. These rights may not apply to parents of eligible students defined as a student eighteen years or older. “Eligible Student” means a student 18 years
and older.
2 “Personally identifiable information,” as applied to student data, means personally identifiable information as defined in section 99.3 of title thirty-four of the code of federal regulations implementing the family educational
rights and privacy act, section twelve hundred thirty-two-g of title twenty of the United States code, and, as applied to teacher or principal data, means “personally identifying information” as such term is used in subdivision ten of
section three thousand twelve-c of this chapter.
3 Information about other state and federal laws that protect student data such as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, and NY’s Personal Privacy Protection Law can be found
at http://www.nysed.gov/student-data-privacy/federal-laws-protect-student-data.
TECHNOLOGY USE POLICY FOR STUDENTS
GENERAL GUIDELINES
Student use of district issued computers and electronic devices is for school-related use only. Foreign or home software is not permitted. The District retains the right to review the contents of any data storage device and e- mail of any user. Network etiquette, consistent with expected school behavior, should be observed (e.g., no abusive language, inappropriate behavior, cyber bullying or illegal activities will be allowed).
Students may not misrepresent themselves or the Menands UFSD through any communication or publication via the Internet or other media/information outlet. Real time conference uses (e.g. video conferencing, use of “chat rooms,” etc.) must be approved and supervised by the appropriate staff member, teacher, principal, IT staff member, etc.
Students should never give out their own or anyone else’s personal identification information such as home addresses, age, telephone number or physical location in an email message or any on- line communication.
Students should never arrange a face-to-face meeting with the Internet user without parent/ guardian permission.
Students should never respond to e-mail messages that are threatening, obscene, or from an unknown source. They should seek the supervising adult if any inappropriate messages are received.
Students should remember that on-line users may or may not be who they say they are. The anonymity of the Internet allows some users to misrepresent themselves or their intentions.
Students may participate in only those Internet exchanges approved by school personnel. Any Internet security problems must be reported to a supervising adult.
Students will be required to acknowledge and agree with the Student Computer Use Agreement to have access to their District accounts.
All materials over the Internet should be assumed to be copyrighted for citation purposes. The Menands UFSD has no responsibility for the accuracy or the quality of information obtained through Internet services.
E-mail is not confidential and messages related to or in support of illegal activities will be reported to the authorities.
Use of another individual’s account without permission from that individual is strictly prohibited. Student account numbers are confidential to the student and should not be revealed to other students.
More information
Supplemental vendor privacy information is available to parents by request. If you would like more information, please contact Jennifer Cannavo, Data Privacy Officer, at 518-465-4561, or email her at jcannavo@menands.org.