We are working to improve your children’s education by ensuring it meets their unique needs. It would be very difficult to accomplish this goal without the ability to capture important information about your child’s progress. Protecting personal information in secure and responsible ways is at the heart of our efforts to provide a richer and more dynamic learning experience for all students.

Parents and guardians want assurances that personal information and data about their children are secure and protected by our school system. These questions are rising as we use the Internet, mobile apps, cloud computing, online learning and new technologies to deliver exciting new education services.

We follow federal and state education privacy laws and adhere to privacy and security policies.

For example, the Family Education Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA) gives parents rights related to their children's education records and personally identifiable information. Additional information is available in our annual notice to parents of their rights under FERPA and from the U.S. Department of Education. For detailed information on your rights and options, consult the appropriate Student/Parent Handbook.

When we use an online service provider to process or store data, they also must adhere to certain federal and state and privacy laws. We also expect them to use current security protocols and technology.

Additionally, the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) prevents child-directed websites and apps from collecting certain personal information from anyone under 13 years of age without parental permission. Our school system may consent on behalf of parents in the education context when student information is collected for the school's exclusive use and benefit and for no other commercial purpose.

Under FERPA, our vendors cannot use the education records we provide in any way that is not authorized by the school district. They cannot sell this data or allow others to access it except as we permit in accordance with federal and state education privacy laws.

At SMCISD, we strive to be clear about how the district uses technology and data support your child's education. If you have questions or concerns regarding technology systems used by the district, data that is collected and used, or the safeguards in place to protect that data, please contact the Director of Technology, (512) 393-6905, data_privacy@smcisd.net.