108 Committee Interim Hearings: LR321 Neutral Testimony
John Skretta
5905 O Street
Lincoln, NE 68505
Neutral
Representing:
Lincoln Public Schools
Lincoln Public Schools is submitting written comment in response to Senator Conrad’s LR321:
Interim study to determine the scope and use of student surveillance, monitoring, and tracking technology by school officials in Nebraska.
LPS cares deeply about protecting our students, and this includes protecting them digitally. There are many layers of digital protections (see https://home.lps.org/cs/data-privacy/) which protect our LPS students, and there are myriad federal requirements in place to ensure we protect children and their data. Chief amongst these would be the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds from programs of the U.S. Department of Education. We also ensure full compliance with COPPA and CIPA, the former of which imposes requirements on operators of websites or online services that collect personally identifiable information from children under 13 years of age and is therefore particularly apropos to the topic of this interim study.
LR321 also provides an opportunity for us to describe the extensive Parent Acknowledgement (see https://home.lps.org/technology/parent-acknowledgement-of-instructional-technologies-pa-in-lps-classrooms/) procedures in place to protect students and ensure full parental advance notification. Legally, parent permission is required before any device may be assigned to, or used by an LPS student. This includes all building technology and all access to online systems, with the exception of required LPS and state assessments. Furthermore, the parental consent acknowledgement serves as the parent’s consent to allow LPS to manage which ITTs (Instructional Technology Tools) may gather PII (Personally Identifiable Information) about their child.
Specific “tracking systems” referenced in the resolution include: digital hall passes, anti vaping devices, fingerprints swipes, and electronic surveys. For example: The use of the digital hall pass service provided to Lincoln Public Schools by Securly is predicated on their attestation of compliance with: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA); Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA); Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA); Nebraska Student Online Personal Protection Act (SOPPA). Their attestation is enumerated in the “Software Privacy & Security Policy” available on their website (https://eduspiresolutions.org/privacy-policy/). Vape detection systems are in place at all high schools. As a point of clarification for purposes of this interim study, we would assert that vape detection technology is not a student tracking system because it does not use audio or video technology and is not linked to any individual student, it simply monitors air quality to identify when vaping is present.
LPS does not sell student data. LPS investments in these technologies reflect system priorities to protect the health, safety, and welfare of students and staff. LPS leveraged ESSER funds to support initial acquisition of some of these critical investments including piloting vape detection sensors in our high schools.
LPS thanks Senator Conrad and the Education Committee for your interest in this issue. We remain vigilantly committed to ensuring the protection of student data and the safeguarding of data privacy. We will continue to adhere to and implement best practices in accordance with federal requirements and industry standards.
