January 26, 2025
Sen. Dave Murman, Chairperson
Sen. Margo Juarez
Sen. Jana Hughes, Vice Chairperson
Sen. Dan Lonowski
Sen. Danielle Conrad
Sen. Glen Meyer
Sen. Megan Hunt
Sen. Rita Sanders
The Lincoln Public Schools is opposed to Senator Ballard’s LB352 in its introduced version. We have substantial concerns that even given the “de-identified” note in the bill language, by publishing an electronic database of building-level searchable discipline information, it is conceivable that individual students would be able to be identified.
If all of the noted demographic categorizations are in the file on LB352 with the discipline data, even if the data are de-identified, there is a concerning potential for students to be reidentified if they are in a group with a small number of students (e.g., such as a member of a racial or ethnic minority at a particular school wherein this subgroup is particularly small). We find this especially problematic because the database will contain both sensitive discipline information and information about poverty. As written, we assert that LB352 may create FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act) violations since disciplinary records are maintained in confidentiality in accordance with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). We believe that LB352 could inadvertently result in public disclosure of student disciplinary records without sufficient masking procedures. Based on information from the US Department of Education’s Privacy Technical Assistance Center, we voice our concerns that LB352 could result in accidental or unintended disclosure of student personally identifiable information (PII).
As currently available data reports that provide access to the kind of information sought in LB352 that adhere to rigorous standards of data stewardship, we would point to the annual Civil Rights Data Collection and the Safe and Successful Kids Interlocal annual report of Student Discipline and School Resource Officer programs for Lincoln Public Schools and the City of Lincoln.
We appreciate the intent of Senator Ballard in bringing forth a proposal to support publicly available student discipline data to inform policymakers and constituents at the local and state levels; however, we believe that LB352 could create foreseeable disclosures of confidential student information. We therefore oppose LB352.
Sincerely,
Dr. John Skretta
Interim Superintendent
Lincoln Public Schools
