SB 264

Abstract

Department of Education; school boards; student online activity; data collection, monitoring, and restrictions. Requires the Department of Education to establish reporting expectations for school divisions that collect student online activity data and provides that if no school within a school division does so, the school board, upon submission of written documentation to the Department stating that no school within the school division collects student online activity data, shall be deemed to have satisfied such reporting expectations. The reporting expectations include: (i) making certain disclosures to parents, including what online activity is being tracked, monitored, and collected when using school devices on school property and what types of student online activity or online activity data would create an alert; (ii) including in the school division's acceptable use policy for the Internet that student online activity is being tracked and data collected; (iii) providing, to the extent available for the school division, parents the ability to access any collected student online activity data; (iv) notifying the parent of a student for whom an alert is created or an action taken on such student's online activity or associated data before the student is notified, except as provided in the bill; (v) prohibiting the inclusion of student online activity data in a student's permanent record except in the most severe cases, as defined, set forth, and made publicly available by the Department. The bill requires the Department to create and distribute to each school board (a) a template for making the required parental disclosures and (b) best practices for deleting student online activity data.

Department of Education; school boards; studentonline activity; data collection, monitoring, and restrictions.Requires the Department of Education to establish, and each schoolboard to adhere to, (i) requirements relating to the collection ofdata on student online activity and the monitoring of student onlineactivity by school boards and school board employees, including requirementsto disclose to the parents of enrolled students what student onlineactivity is tracked and monitored on school or personal devices onschool property and what data on student online activity is beingcollected on school or personal devices and (ii) a requirement toset the most restrictive age-appropriate limits on student accessto social media platforms, YouTube and other video platforms, andsearch engines and other search features on school devices and permitthe parents of each enrolled student to waive such limits for theirchild by submitting a written request to the school division. Thebill also requires the Department to establish and distribute toeach school board a template that each such school board is requiredto use to (a) make certain disclosures to the parents of enrolled students relating to student online activity tracking or monitoringand the collection of data on such activity and (b) permit the parentsof each enrolled student to opt their child out of any such tracking,monitoring, or collection.