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NEWSFLASH – February 17, 2016
From: Roy Hanson and Nathan Pierce — Family Protection Ministries
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Please read the following email from Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) regarding a California Department of Education (CDE) lawsuit that is raising questions about student records.
We at Family Protection Ministries encourage you to read this informative email from HSLDA.
If you have questions about this case, please contact HSLDA for further information.
Home School Legal Defense Association
Phone: (540) 338-5600
Web: http://www.hslda.org
Sincerely,
Roy Hanson and Nathan Pierce
Family Protection Ministries
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California Department of Education Lawsuit Raises Questions about Student Records
Dear Friends of HSLDA:
A recent post on the California Department of Education’s website about a lawsuit has concerned parents around the state.
Entitled “Notice of Disclosure of Student Records,” the post http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/di/ws/morganhillcase.asp reveals that due to a lawsuit filed several years ago by associations representing parents of children with disabilities, the department has been ordered to disclose certain information from its database. Specifically, the department will send personal information on some students to the associations, including information about children with disabilities, children who requested an assessment or who were assessed for special education eligibility, and children who are attending or have attended a California school at any time since January 1, 2008.
The federal court overseeing the lawsuit has already issued a protective order that prevents either party from disclosing any of this personal information to the public or using it for any purpose other than the lawsuit, and requiring all the information to be either returned to the department or destroyed after the suit is done. Additionally, it appears that the department will be using pseudonyms to protect all of the students’ and schools’ information. The federal court required the department to post a notice on its website informing parents of their right to object to the department releasing any information on their children.
For families who have homeschooled their children every year and have never requested a special education assessment, the department will not have any personal information on your children because the affidavit that is filed with the CDE does not have that information.
If you have had children in a California school during the time period involved, and you choose to object to the possible disclosure of information about your children, before April 1, 2016 you can either fill out the form found here http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/di/ws/morganhillcase.asp and mail it in, or you can mail a confidential letter to the judge handling the case. Since the letter must contain very specific information, you should read the instructions carefully if you choose to do a personal letter rather than a form.
If you have questions about this case, please feel free to contact HSLDA for further information.
Mike Smith
President, HSLDA
Home School Legal Defense Association
P.O. Box 3000 Purcellville, Virginia 20134-9000
Phone: (540) 338-5600 * Fax: (540) 338-2733 * Email: info@hslda.org
Web: http://www.hslda.org
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Permission given to forward this email unaltered to your friends, church, school, and group.
This email was sent out by
Roy Hanson and Nathan Pierce
Family Protection Ministries
PO Box 730
Lincoln, CA 95648