District Departments
Board of Education
Quick Links
Skip to content
Technology
SOPPA NOTICE
Annual Notice to Parents about Educational Technology
Vendors Under the Student Online Personal Protection Act [1]
School districts throughout the State of Illinois contract with different educational technology vendors for beneficial K-12 purposes such as providing personalized learning and innovative educational technologies, and increasing efficiency in school operations.
Under Illinois’ Student Online Personal Protection Act, or SOPPA (105 ILCS 85/), educational technology vendors and other entities that operate Internet websites, online services, online applications, or mobile applications that are designed, marketed, and primarily used for K-12 school purposes are referred to in SOPPA as operators. SOPPA is intended to ensure that student data collected by operators is protected, and it requires those vendors, as well as school districts and the Ill. State Board of Education, to take a number of actions to protect online student data.
Depending upon the particular educational technology being used, our District may need to collect different types of student data, which is then shared with educational technology vendors through their online sites, services, and/or applications. Under SOPPA, educational technology vendors are prohibited from selling or renting a student’s information or from engaging in targeted advertising using a student’s information. Such vendors may only disclose student data for K-12 school purposes and other limited purposes permitted under the law.
In general terms, the types of student data that may be collected and shared include personally identifiable information (PII) about students or information that can be linked to PII about students, such as:
Basic identifying information, including student or parent/guardian name and student or parent/guardian contact information, username/password, student ID number
Demographic information
Enrollment information
Assessment data, grades, and transcripts
Attendance and class schedule
Academic/extracurricular activities
Special indicators (e.g., disability information, English language learner, free/reduced meals or homeless/foster care status)
Conduct/behavioral data
Health information
Food purchases
Transportation information
In-application performance data
Student-generated work
Online communications
Application metadata and application use statistics
Permanent and temporary school student record information
Operators may collect and use student data only for K-12 purposes, which are purposes that aid in the administration of school activities, such as:
Instruction in the classroom or at home (including remote learning)
Administrative activities
Collaboration between students, school personnel, and/or parents/guardians
Other activities that are for the use and benefit of the school district
The right to a copy of any school student record proposed to be destroyed or deleted.
The permanent record is maintained for at least 60 years after the student transfers, graduates, or permanently withdraws. The temporary record is maintained for at least 5 years after the student transfers, graduates, or permanently withdraws. Temporary records that may be of assistance to a student with a disability who graduates or permanently withdraws, may, after 5 years, be transferred to the parent/guardian or to the student, if the student has succeeded to the rights of the parent/guardian. Student temporary records are reviewed every 4 years or upon a student’s change in attendance centers, whichever occurs first.
The right to prohibit the release of directory information.
Throughout the school year, the District may release directory information regarding students, limited to:
Name
Address
Gender
Grade level
Birth date and place
Parent/guardian names, addresses, electronic mail addresses, and telephone numbers
Photographs, videos, or digital images used for informational or news-related purposes (whether by a media outlet or by the school) of a student participating in school or school-sponsored activities, organizations, and athletics that have appeared in school publications, such as yearbooks, newspapers, or sporting or fine arts programs
Academic awards, degrees, and honors
Information in relation to school-sponsored activities, organizations, and athletics
Major field of study
Period of attendance in school
Any parent/guardian or eligible student may prohibit the release of any or all of the above information by delivering a written objection to the building principal within 30 days of the date of this notice.
The right to request that military recruiters or institutions of higher learning not be granted access to your student’s information without your prior written consent.
Federal law requires a secondary school to grant military recruiters and institutions of higher learning, upon their request, access to secondary school students’ names, addresses, and telephone numbers, unless the parent/guardian, or student who is 18 years of age or older, request that the information not be disclosed without prior written consent. If you wish to exercise this option, notify the building principal.
The right contained in this statement: No person may condition the granting or withholding of any right, privilege or benefits or make as a condition of employment, credit, or insurance the securing by any individual of any information from a student’s temporary record which such individual may obtain through the exercise of any right secured under State law.
The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the District to comply with the requirements of FERPA.
The name and address of the Office that administers FERPA is:
U.S. Department of Education
Student Privacy Policy Office
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington DC 20202-8520