The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (“PPRA”), affords parents certain rights regarding the conduct of surveys, collection and use of information for marketing purposes, and certain physical exams. These include the right to:
- Consent before students are required to submit to a survey that contains one or more of the following protected areas (“protected information survey”) if the survey is funded in whole or in part by a program of the U.S. Department of Education (“ED”):
- Political affiliations or beliefs of the student or student’s parent;
- Mental or psychological problems of the student or student’s family;
- Sex behavior or attitudes;
- Illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating or demeaning behavior;
- Critical appraisals of others with whom respondents have close family relationships;
- Legally recognized privileged relationships, such as with lawyers, doctors, or ministers;
- Religious practices, affiliations, or beliefs of the student or parents; or
- Income, other than as required by law to determine program eligibility.
- Receive notice and an opportunity to opt a student out of:
- Any other protected information survey, regardless of funding;
- Any non-emergency, invasive physical exam or screening required as a condition of attendance, administered by the school or its agent, and not necessary to protect the immediate health and safety of a student, except for hearing, vision, or scoliosis screenings, or any physical exam or screening permitted or required under Colorado law; and
- Activities involving collection, disclosure, or use of personal information obtained from students for marketing or to sell or otherwise distribute the information to others.
- Inspect upon request and before administration or use:
- Protected information surveys of students;
- Instruments used to collect personal information from students for any of the above marketing, sales or other distribution purposed; and
- Instructional material used as part of the educational curriculum.
These rights transfer from the parents to a student who is 18 years old or an emancipated minor under Colorado law.
Jeffco Public Schools will develop and adopt policies, in consultation with parents, regarding these rights, as well as arrangements to protect student privacy in the administration of protected information surveys and the collection, disclosure, or use of personal information for marketing, sales, or other distribution purposes.
The following is a list of the specific activities and surveys which require annual notification:
- Collection, disclosure, or use of personal information for marketing, sales or other distribution;
- Administration of any protected information survey not funded in whole or in part by ED; and
- Any non-emergency, invasive physical examination or screening as described above.
Jeffco Public Schools will directly notify, such as through U.S. Mail or email, parents of students who are scheduled to participate in the specific activities or surveys noted above and will provide an opportunity for the parent to opt his or her child out of participation in the specific activity or survey. At the beginning of each school year, each school will notify parents of the approximate dates in which activities/surveys listed above are scheduled to occur.
For surveys and activities scheduled after the school year starts. Parents will be provided reasonable notification of the planned activities and surveys listed above and be provided an opportunity to opt their child out of such activities and surveys. Parents will also be provided an opportunity to review any pertinent surveys.