Amazon Alexa and Echo Dot devices -- Why are they not allowed?

The convenience and ease of use of these --now common-- devices belie the fact that we cannot use them under current law and policy in Davis School District. Several key reasons they are not allowed in Davis School District --

There is no data sharing agreement with Amazon for the information collected by these devices, between the district and the company.
They are designed with a commercial / consumer purpose in mind, and would require parental permission for each student around the device
And finally, the requirement for a teacher to preview all instructional content before presenting it to students does not align with the ad hoc methods implemented with this kind of technology

See the following article for some good analysis of the shortcomings of these devices in educational settings. https://studentprivacycompass.org/bearden4/

What changed with the DATA COLLECTION NOTICE in myDSD?

The DATA COLLECTION NOTICE is a document that the district is required to provide to all parents and guardians since 2018 when the state legislature passed the "Student Data and Privacy Protection Act". It was decided to distribute the document as part of the same collection of district-wide documents distributed when students register for school in myDSD, such as the STUDENT ACCEPTABLE TECHNOLOGY USE AGREEMENT.

But the DATA COLLECTION NOTICE had the same accept and decline button at the bottom of the page as the other agreements, but the intent of distributing the document was simply to provide notice differently than the purpose of the other documents in the packet of materials. Several parents each year brought this to our attention.

The technology department worked over the 2022-2023 school year to change myDSD to differentiate between agreements and notices.

What is P.I.I.?

P.I.I. or PII is the common acronym for Personally Identifiable Information

Can I use a data wall to motivate students to monitor and improve their own learning?

Data walls -- publicly posting class academic progress, attendance, test results of any type is a violation of FERPA. Even without PII, with such a small group, scores can still be attributed to specific students. An acceptable alternative is to use individual file folders or student / teacher mentoring sessions to keep student data and information separate and to keep those folders secure when not in use with that specific student.

See this Washington Post article from 2014 about data walls and FERPA issues.

What if I decline the "Data Collection Notice" in myDSD?

The Data Collection Notice posted in myDSD has been (in the past) posted for parents' information, but the program required a response (Accept/Decline). The current version of the tool records that you have opened and read the document alone.

There is no action that needs to be taken if you clicked Accept or Decline on that form as it is a NOTICE and not an AGREEMENT.

Why is my (my student's) information shared with military recruiters?

The Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA), requires all local education agencies, including the Utah Department of Education, to provide to military recruiters, upon their request, the name, address, and telephone number of secondary school students. Secondary school students are defined as students enrolled in middle, intermediate, and/or high schools. It also applies to students in grades 7 through 12 in secondary schools (e.g., 7-8, 9-12).

If any eligible student (18 years of age) or the parent/guardian of a secondary student does not want the Utah Department of Education to provide the requested information to military recruiters, the eligible student or the parent/guardian must "opt out" of providing such information. To do this, the printed and signed Secondary Schools Directory Information Withhold Release Request [pdf] [link to pdf from policy manual] needs to be submitted to the school office by the eligible student or parent/legal guardian.

"Directory Information Withhold Release Request" forms are to be submitted annually and will be accepted at any time during the school year. If a request is submitted after student information has been turned over to the military's Inter-Service Recruitment Council (IRC), the “opt-out” request will apply to future information the Utah Department of Education submits to the IRC. If a parent, guardian, or eligible student does not file an “opt-out” request, student information may be released to the extent that laws, regulations, and/or policies authorize such disclosures without consent. [adapted from Provo SD directory information notice 9/22/2022]

Data Privacy

Approvals Process

Biometric Data Collection Notice

Board Privacy Policy

Collection Notices

Data Collection Notice

Data Governance Plan

Data Privacy Agreements

Data Retention

Directory Information Withhold Request

FERPA Annual Notice and Directory Information Notice

FERPA Employee Handout

Frequently Asked Questions

Government Data Protection Act (GDPA)

IT Security Plan

Laws and Applicable Policy - DSD Board Policy

Laws and Applicable Policy - Federal Laws

Laws and Applicable Policy - State Laws

Laws and Applicable Policy - USBE STUDENT DATA PRIVACY

Laws and Applicable Policy - UTAH OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE RULES

Media Permission Letter - Memo to parents regarding student interview / photograph / video

METADATA Dictionary

DSD Employee Data Privacy Notice

DSD SMS Privacy Terms and Conditions and Privacy Notice

DSD Student Data Collection Notice

DSD Website Data Privacy notice

Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA)

Parental Permission Form Template for sites and apps

Record Retention Schedule DSD

Record Retention Schedule USBE

SMS Terms of Service for Text Messaging (select school programs)

SMS Terms of Service Document 📄

Student Data Disclosure

Student Data Protection Act (SDPA)

Student Data Privacy Consortium (SDPC)

Training and Responsibilities - Teacher Responsibilities

Training and Responsibilities - Administrator Responsibilities

Training and Responsibilities - Student Data Privacy Manager

Training and Responsibilities - Information Data Manager