Orange County school leaders concerned about releasing student information

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — From names to addresses, Orange County school leaders just denied a charter school's request for personal information about students.

Some school board members are now raising concerns about privacy.

The school district is now reviewing its policy for releasing some of that information about students.

Besides names and addresses, the "directory" information includes more intimate details like a student athlete's height and weight and the days they attended school.

The practice is allowed in certain cases, as long as the school board signs off.

The charter school uses the information to connect with parents and explain its programs, but one board has concerns about privacy.

New board member Karen Castor Dental is now calling into question the measure and said, “I think we must be very careful about giving out personal student information.”

Tuesday night's discussion was sparked by a request from Central Florida Leadership Academy, a charter school which asked for names and addresses of students in 10 zip codes to share information about its programs as part of school choice.

“The item before us today, I think has less to do with who is requesting it and for me, more to do with my belief that information of our students is not ours to share,” Dental said.

The board denied the request and the school's president said the district had provided the information for years, which was used to send out informational fliers with details about open house events.

“We're disappointed because we want parents to know that we're here, and know what we're doing and be able to choose wisely what educational opportunities will best serve their unique student,” said Jody Litchford, president of the board for the Central Florida Leadership Academy.

The board's decision will likely impact any other requests from charter schools. And while the code of conduct gives parents 10 days to opt out of the release, board members have now asked the district to review the policy.

Officials said this information is also provided to vendors that have a contract with the district for student services, like photos or graduation gowns, and some branches of the armed services.

Cox Media Group