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Summary of 2006 FOIA
Responses from Connecticut Schools and
Districts Regarding Right
to Opt-Out of Disclosure of
Student Directory Information
to Military Recruiters
Renee C. Redman,
Legal Director
Lauren McEnteggart,
Legal Intern
Introduction
Section 9528 of the No Child Left
Behind Act ("NCLB"), enacted in 2002, requires any educational agency receiving
federal funding to provide military recruiters and institutions of higher
education with "access to secondary school students names, addresses, and telephone
listings." NCLB, § 9528(1). This information is commonly referred to as
"directory information." Students and their
parents may request that directory information not be released without prior
written consent. Schools are required to notify parents of the
option to make such a request. NCLB §
9528 (2).
The ACLU of Connecticut is concerned that many parents and students are
not being provided with reasonable notice of their rights under NCLB or a reasonable
method for opting out from such disclosure to military recruiters. To determine whether our concerns are
justified, we mailed requests pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act,
C.G.S. § 1-210, to every public school superintendent in Connecticut. We
requested copies of documents relating to section 9528 of NCLB, including
written policies and materials regarding disclosure to students and their
parents of their opt-out rights.[1]
We received responses from 133 schools and districts. (See a summary of School Policies we received.) The responses indicate that schools have
adopted a tremendous variety of policies and notification procedures, making it
difficult to summarize the results of our investigation. However, based on the responses, less than
half of the respondents provide reasonable notice to parents and students of
their rights regarding disclosure of military information and a reasonable method
for opting out from such disclosure.
To be reasonable, actual notice, as opposed to constructive notice,
must be given to parents and students. Notice
must be sufficiently conspicuous so that parents and students will actually
receive it. It must explain that
students and parents may opt-out of disclosure to military recruiters without
opting out from disclosure to other third-parties, particularly institutions of
higher learning. Several respondents provided
reasonable notice through provision of simple forms for students and/or parents
to fill out that clearly explained the law and laid out the choices. On the other end of the spectrum of
reasonableness, some schools only provided a short written notice that was part
of a larger document. We believe that
sending such a notice, especially as part of a larger document such as a
newsletter or student handbook, requiring parents to send a written request to
opt-out of disclosure does not provide reasonable notice or a method for opting
out.
We also urge that schools provide notices in languages other than
English, particularly Spanish. Only three
respondents indicated they provided notice and/or op-out forms in a language
other than English. Many parents in Connecticut are not native English speakers and some do
not speak English at all. An
English-only notice is unlikely to be read and understood by such parents.
A brief summary of our findings follow.
Connecticut Public Schools
Generally, we found that 85 of the 133
respondents have written disclosure policies; only about two-thirds of those
policies are in compliance with NCLB. However,
in a surprising number of cases, even though the policy does not comply with NCLB,
the schools correctly notified parents and students of their rights to opt out
of disclosure to military recruiters. About
half of the respondents also provided a form that permitted parents and
students to indicate whether they wished to opt-out. Several respondents apparently provided no written
notice at all to parents and students.[2]
a. Disclosure
policies and notice
Although a bare majority of Connecticut schools and districts have written policies
regarding disclosure of student information, the content of the policies vary,
particularly with regard to disclosure to military recruiters. Of the schools that have disclosure policies,
most provide students and parents with some notice of that policy. The notices range from a sentence or two in a
student handbook regarding a general disclosure policy to a full page
explanation of section 9528 of NCLB.
Some schools specifically inform parents of the disclosure requirement
to the military and/or institutions of higher education under NCLB. This type of notice often states something
similar to the notice sent by East Hartford High School: "Section 9258 of the No Child Left Behind Act
signed into law by President George Bush allows for access to student
recruiting information (names addresses and telephone listings) by military
recruiters. A secondary school student
or parent may request that this information not be released without prior
written parental consent."
Other notices only inform students and parents about a general policy
regarding disclosure of student directory information to all third parties
without mentioning NCLB. For example,
the policy in the Old Saybrook Public School District Calendar for 2005-2006, states
that under the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act, the school will provide
the same directory information to military recruiters as that provided to
non-military recruiters and states that "Directory information or class lists
of students' names and/or addresses shall not be distributed to any recruiting
organization without the consent of the parent or legal guardian of the student
or by the student who has attained majority status." This is, at best, unclear. It does not inform parents and students of
their rights to prevent disclosure to military recruiters, while permitting
disclosure to other third-parties such as institutions of higher learning.
Another example of such a policy is that of Plainville. The Board
of Education policy correctly recognizes that parents and students have the
right to opt-out under NCLB, yet the 2005-2006 Plainville High School handbook
is less than clear. The handbook also
cites the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act for the rule that "the high
school may provide the same directory information and on-campus recruiting
opportunities to military recruiters as are offered to nonmilitary recruiters
or commercial concerns" and states that "[n]o directory information will be
released regarding your child (children) if you notify the school in
writing."
Many respondents provided notice in newsletters or handbooks. Some of the notices are in large type and take
up a large portion of a page; others consist of a couple of sentences. For example, Bethel High School sent out notification several times on the
front page of its monthly newsletter, in bold text and outlined to highlight
its importance. In contrast, the only
notice sent by Wethersfield High
School was in a Principal's Newsletter which stated in small print that "[t]he
No Child Left Behind legislation mandates that public schools provide a
database of student names, telephone numbers and addresses for the purpose of
military recruitment. If you do not wish
to have your child's information furnished to the military please send a
request to that effect in writing."
These brief sentences are unlikely to catch the attention of parents or
students.
Several schools provided notice of the opt-out right even though their
written policies do not address the right.
For example, Bristol Public Schools does not have a policy requiring
that parents be notified of their right to opt-out from any disclosure to the
military, or any other entity that might request such information. It only provides notice that the school will
provide the same information to the military as it provides to nonmilitary
recruiters, and that the school shall give notice of the categories of
information which the school district plans to release. Upon such notice, parents are to be given an
opportunity to inform the school that any or all of the information designated
should not be released to anybody. However,
Bristol High School provides its parents and students with notice
of the specific right to opt-out of disclosure of information to military
recruiters and a form with which to do so.
b. Opt-out
forms
About half of the respondents
provided a form for parents and students to fill out. (See our suggested Student Consent Form and Parent Consent Form.) They often must be returned to a particular
person at the school and many schools require that the forms be returned within
fairly short time periods. The content
of the forms vary from school to school.
Some provide reasonable opportunity to preclude disclosure to military
recruiters; others are misleading.
There are two basic types of forms that we believe provide reasonable
opportunity to opt-out as they specifically distinguish disclosure to the
military from disclosure to institutions of higher learning. The two types are: (1) forms that address
only military disclosure, and (2) forms that allow parents and students to
decide whether they consent to release of directory information to the
military, institutions of higher education, both, or neither.
An example of an opt-out form for the military alone is the following
letter sent to parents of junior students at North Branford High School:
Dear Parents of Juniors:
In
2001, a new federal law was enacted under No Child Left Behind (Sec. 544
Military Recruiter Access to Secondary School Students) which requires high
schools to provide access to students' names, addresses and phone numbers at
the request of military recruiters.
Students
and parents do have the right to keep this information from being
released. If you do not wish to have
your name and address and phone number given to military recruiters, please
sign the form below and return it to
the Guidance Department by December 9th. If you do not return this form, you are
giving North Branford High
School permission to release student
information.[3]
The form states that
the parent does not want to have their son/daughters' name, address and phone number
released to military recruiters.
Similarly, Danbury
High School's form provides:
I,____________, herby exercise my
federal right granted to me by the Congress of the United States under Section
9528 of the Elementary and Secondary Educations Act of 1965, as amended
by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, (an any other applicable state,
federal, and local law or school policy) and hereby request that the name,
address, and telephone listing of ____________, a current student at
______________ High School, not be released to military recruiters without
prior written parental consent. I do
however, consent to the disclosure of such information to institutions of
higher education other than military schools.
Another example is a form sent by New Britain High School which requires parents to check one of two
choices: do not release directory
information to military recruiters or do not release information until the
school has received prior written parental permission.
However, it should be noted that, while these forms properly
distinguish military recruiters from others, because nonresponse is assumed to
be consent to disclosure, there is a risk that consent will be obtained by
default. A better example is the form in
the Milford High School Handbook. It
provides two boxes to check - one if the parent gives permission to release
information and the other if the parent does not give permission. This type of form precludes consent through
default because it had to be returned to the school regardless of the choice
that was made.
There are also numerous examples of forms that give parents and
students the opportunity to opt out of release of information to the military
or institutions of higher education, both, or neither. The notification by Branford Public Schools
includes a form that gives parents the option to decide whether directory
information should not be released to military recruiters and/or institutions
of higher earning and/or post-secondary institutions. A permission form sent by Ansonia High School requires parents to check which activities
they wish to permit. One choice is
"Release of information to military services" is one choice.
Other types of forms used by schools do not provide reasonable
opportunity to opt out of release of information to military recruiters. There are two basic versions. One common version reflects confusion
regarding the opt-out requirements. It
provides an opportunity to prevent disclosure of all information to military
recruiters and institutions of higher learning but does not allow parents an
obvious way to distinguish one from the other.
For example, a form sent out by Windham High School in Willimantic instructs parents or students
to sign if they agree to the statement "I do not wish to have my student's
directory information released to military recruiters or an institution of
higher education." A similar form sent
by Greenwich High School reads "I hereby request the [sic] Greenwich High School not disclose directory information
concerning my child to military recruiters
or institutions of higher education." Hartford
Public Schools uses a similar letter which states:
Dear Parent/Guardian:
The Federal No Child Left Behind
Act of 2001 requires that each school district that receives federal funds,
must provide to military recruiters and institutions of higher education, the
name, address, and telephone number of high school junior and senior
students. This information is given upon
request unless a parent or guardian indications that their child's
information not be shared.
Please indicate below if you do
not wish to share contact information with a military recruiter or
institution of higher education.
Please return this letter to your child's guidance counselor
__ I do not wish to
have contact information for my child.
This type of form
does not give parents a reasonable opportunity to deny disclosure of
information to military recruiters but consent to disclosure to institutions of
higher education.
Another common approach is a form that prevents the release of
directory information to all third parties and outside agencies, including the
media and in some cases, yearbook photographers. For example, the form sent by Portland Public
Schools states that "Certain directory information may be released to media, colleges, civic or
school-related organizations, and state or governmental agencies, including
military recruiters, as well as published programs for the athletic, music and
theatre presentations of this school district."
The form then lists fourteen types of information (e.g. name, address, photograph, date of birth, grade level, height,
photograph) and asks parents to circle the categories of information they do
not wish to have released or indicate that no directory information should be
released. It does not provide an
opportunity to opt-out of release to particular third parties - including military
recruiters. While Portland's Board of Education has a policy stating the
opt-out rights under NCLB, apparently parents and students are not notified of
that right.
Another example is the form sent by Wheeler High School in North Stonington which states that the school provides directory information to military
recruiters and institutions of higher learning and that it "would like to release
this information to yearbook photographers to make arrangements for senior
pictures." The form requires parents to
sign if they object to the release of student information but does provide any
way to distinguish the types of disclosure.
It suggests that by signing the form parents might prevent their child
from having a senior picture taken.
Thus, the responses to our requests for information reveal that there
is no standard policy in the state regarding opt-out rights under NCLB.
The same can be said for notice of those rights. While some students and their parents are
provided a reasonable chance in which to opt-out of disclosure to military
recruiters, others are not even notified of their right. Read Our 9/29/06 Letter To School Districts.
[1] We specifically requested the following:
1. Any
written notice provided to students and parents in the school district
identified above regarding any provision of the "No Child Left
Behind Act";
2. Any written policy, manual, memo or other
document pertaining to notification
to students and parents of their rights under the "No Child Left
Behind Act" regarding disclosure of student information to the military,
post-secondary institutions or other third-parties;
3. Any
correspondence from the Department of Defense, the Army, Navy,
Marines, or Air Force to the schools within the district identified above requesting student directory information;
4. Any
correspondence from the Department of Defense, the Army, Navy,
Marines, or Air Force regarding the obligations of the schools within
the district identified above to provide student directory information;
5. Any
correspondence or written documents sent from the schools within
the district to the Department of Defense, the Army, Navy, Marines
or Air Force providing student directory information.
[2] The following respondents did not
send anything in response to our request:
Bloomfield Public Schools, Central and Bassick High Schools in Bridgeport, Derby Public Schools, Litchfield Public Schools, New Haven Public Schools, Stamford Public Schools, Ellington Public Schools, North Haven Public Schools, Strafford Public Schools, Colchester Public Schools, Coventry Public Schools and Waterbury Public Schools.
Their failure to send anything is presumed to indicate that they do not
provide any notice.
[3] Letter
dated Nov. 22 2005, by
Abby De Tour, Guidance Director, North
Branford High School
(emphasis original).
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