The 2022-23 budget is set for USD 253 Emporia Public Schools following the board of education’s recent meeting Wednesday evening.
Following a pair of public hearings, one on the budget itself and a second for the district’s intention to exceed the revenue-neutral rate, the board approved a pair of resolutions finalizing both actions. The final budget totals just over $42.8 million which is a decrease of $2.1 million from the prior fiscal year.
The budget also includes a final mill levy of 54.5 mills, an increase of one mill from the prior year, with a maximum levy of 55 mills. As for the revenue-neutral rate, the district will be exceeding the RNR for all-encompassing funds, except for the local option budget, which board members also approved Wednesday night, according to Assistant Superintendent of Business Operations Rob Scheib.
All items were approved unanimously.
Prior to approval of those items, board members held four executive sessions to consult with the district’s legal counsel. When asked for comment on the sessions and whether or not they were related to the investigation into an alleged assault at Emporia High School Superintendent Allison Anderson Harder did state the district can neither comment on discussions held in executive sessions, nor can it comment on situations involving students.
Anderson Harder did encourage residents and district stakeholders to examine specific board policies online at USD253.org that further detail student confidentiality. Those policies include IDAE, JR and JRB.
KVOE has provided those policies below.
In separate business, board members also received the latest construction update from McCownGordon on the multi-million dollar Building for the Future bond renovation project. The update comes nearly a week after the start of renovations at Village Elementary School, the fifth pre-existing district building to undergo renovations.
Work is currently underway on Emporia Middle School and Logan Avenue Elementary School, completed at Walnut Elementary and the new Jones Early Childhood Education Center and nearing completion at Emporia High School.
The USD 253 Emporia Board of Education will reconvene on Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 6:30 pm inside of the Mary Herbert Education Center.
USD 253 Board Policies Pertaining to Student Confidentiality
IDAE – Student Privacy Policy (See BCBK, ICA, ICAA, II and JR et seq.)
The superintendent, the board and staff shall protect the right of privacy of students and their families in connection with any surveys or physical examinations conducted, assisted or authorized by the board or administration. The district shall annually provide parents notice of their rights under the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment and the Student Data Privacy Act, at the beginning of each school year, and at any other time the school district policies in the area are substantially changed.
Student Data Restrictions
Any student data submitted to and maintained by a statewide longitudinal student data system shall only be disclosed in accordance with the Student Data Privacy Act. Disclosure of all other student data or student record information maintained is governed by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”).
Annual written notice presented to parents and legal guardians of district students shall: 1) require parent or guardian’s signature; and 2) state student data submitted to and maintained by a statewide longitudinal data system only be disclosed as follows.
Student data may be disclosed to:
The authorized personnel of an educational agency or the state board of regents who require disclosures to perform assigned duties; and
The student and the parent or legal guardian of the student, provided the data pertains solely to the student.
Student data may be disclosed to authorized personnel of any state agency, or to a service provider of a state agency, educational agency, or school performing instruction, assessment, or longitudinal reporting, provided a data-sharing agreement between the educational agency and other state agency or service provider provides the following:
purpose, scope, and duration of the data-sharing agreement;
recipient of student data use such information solely for the purposes specified in agreement;
recipient shall comply with data access, use, and security restrictions specifically described in agreement; and
student data shall be destroyed when no longer necessary for purposes of the data-sharing agreement or upon expiration of the agreement, whichever occurs first.
*A service provider engaged to perform a function of instruction may be allowed to retain student transcripts as required by applicable laws and rules and regulations. Destruction shall comply with the NISTSP800-88 standards of data destruction.
Unless an adult student or parent or guardian of a minor student provides written consent to disclose personally identifiable student data, student data may only be disclosed to a governmental entity not specified above or any public or private audit and evaluation or research organization if the data is aggregate data. “Aggregate data” means data collected or reported at the group, cohort, or institutional level and which contains no personally identifiable student data.
The district may disclose:
student directory information when necessary and the student’s parent or legal guardian has consented in writing;
directory information to an enhancement vendor providing photography services, class ring services, yearbook publishing services, memorabilia services, or similar services;
any information requiring disclosure pursuant to state statutes;
student data pursuant to any lawful subpoena or court order directing such disclosure; and
student data to a public or private postsecondary educational institution for purposes of application or admission of a student to such postsecondary educational institution with the student’s written consent.
Student Data Security Breach
If there is a security breach or unauthorized disclosure of student data or personally identifiable information of any student submitted to or maintained on a statewide student longitudinal data system, each affected student or the parent or legal guardian of the student, if a minor, shall be immediately notified, and an investigation into the causes and consequences of the breach or unauthorized disclosure will be conducted.
Biometric Data
The district shall not collect biometric data from a student or use any device or mechanism to assess a student’s physiological or emotional state, unless the adult student or the parent or legal guardian of the minor student consents in writing. “Biometric data” includes measurable biological or behavioral characteristics that can be used for automated recognition of an individual, such as fingerprints, retina and iris patterns, voiceprints, DNA sequence, facial characteristics, and handwriting.
Nothing in this policy shall prohibit the collection of audio voice recordings, facial expression information, and student handwriting for:
provision of counseling or psychological services,
conducting student threat assessments,
completing student disciplinary investigations or hearings, or
conducting child abuse investigations.
Select Student Surveys
No test, questionnaire, survey, or examination containing any questions about a student’s or the student’s parents’ or guardians’ personal beliefs or practices on issues such as sex, family life, morality, or religion shall be administered to any student unless:
the parent or guardian is notified in writing; and
the parent or guardian of the student gives written permission for the student to participate.
Nothing shall prohibit school counselors from providing counseling services, including the administration of tests and forms as part of student counseling services. Any information obtained through such tests or counseling services shall not be stored on any personal mobile electronic device which is not owned by the school district. Storage of such information on personal laptops, tablets, phones, flash drives, external hard drives, or virtual servers not owned by the district is prohibited.
Students may be questioned:
● in the provision of psychological services,
● conducting of student threat assessments,
● completing student disciplinary investigations or hearings, or
● conducting child abuse investigations.
Collection of such information in these limited circumstances is permitted without prior written consent of the parent, guardian, or adult student.
Approved: July 13, 2016
JR – Student Records (See BCBK, CN, CNA, ECA, IDAE, JGGA, JR et seq. and KBA)
All student records shall be treated as confidential and primarily for local school use unless otherwise stipulated. Access to student records, excluding student data submitted to or maintained in a statewide longitudinal data system in accordance with board policy IDAE, shall be permitted as set forth in board policies JR and JRB.
When records include information on more than one student, the parents/guardians of any student shall have access to copies of that part of the record that pertains to their child. Each school shall establish procedures for the granting of a request by parents/guardians for access to their child’s school records within a reasonable period of time, but in no case more than 45 days after the request has been made.
In situations where the parents of a student are divorced or separated, each parent, custodial and/or non-custodial, shall have equal rights to their child’s records unless a court order specifies otherwise. Private agreements between the student’s parents shall not be recognized by the district’s personnel.
Parents/guardians shall have an opportunity for a hearing to challenge the content of their child’s school records to ensure that the records are not inaccurate, misleading or otherwise in violation of the privacy or other rights of students; to have an opportunity for the correction or deletion of any inaccurate, misleading or otherwise inappropriate data contained therein; and to insert into records the parent’s/guardian’s written explanation of the content of the records.
Any eligible parent/guardian or student may inspect the personal records of the student during regular school office hours. The district reserves the right to interpret selected records to students and/or parent/guardians at the time of the inspection.
When a student attains 18 years of age, the permission or consent required of and the rights accorded to the parents of the student shall thereafter only be required of and accorded to the student.
The parents/guardians of students, or the students if they are 18 years of age or older, shall be informed annually by the superintendent of the rights accorded them by this section and by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. In addition, the public shall be informed annually by the superintendent of the categories of information the institution has determined to be directory information.
Approved: May 13, 2015
JRB – Release of Student Records (See BCBK, CN, CNA, ECA, IDAE, JGGA, JR et seq. and KBA)
Individual student files are not available for public inspection. Except as provided in IDAE with regard to student records which are student data submitted to or maintained in a statewide longitudinal data system, the custodian of student records shall disclose the student’s educational records only as provided for in this policy.
Directory Information
Annual notice shall be given to parents and eligible students concerning their rights with regard to student records. In addition, the custodian of the educational records shall give annual public notice of the class of records the institution has designated as directory information; and of the right of the parent or eligible student to opt-out of the release of directory information without prior written consent. The appropriate forms for providing notice shall be on file in the office of the custodian of the educational records.
After giving notice and allowing a reasonable period of time for parents or eligible students to inform the district that any or all of the directory information should not be released without prior written consent, the custodian of records may make directory information available without parental or eligible student’s consent.
The custodian of records shall make student recruiting information (including student name, address, and telephone listing) available to military recruiters and postsecondary institutions unless parents or eligible students provide a written request to the district providing that the specified information not be released without prior written consent. Notice of the option to opt-out of the release of recruitment information shall be provided to parents and eligible students in the district’s annual notice of rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
For the purposes of this policy, school official means teacher, administrator, other certified employee or board of education. The district may disclose, without the parents’ or eligible students’ consent, personally identifiable information to school officials with a legitimate educational interest. A school official is a person employed by the school as an administrator, supervisor, instructor, or support-staff member (including health or medical staff and law enforcement unit personnel); the school board (in executive session); a person or company with whom the school has contracted to perform a special task (such as an attorney, auditor, medical consultant, or therapist); or a parent or student serving on an official committee such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility.
The custodian may disclose students’ education records to the following persons without the prior consent of the parents:
Other school officials, including teachers within the district who have legitimate educational interests;
Officials of other schools or school systems in which the student intends to enroll. The school district will forward student records to such institutions without further notice to the parents or eligible student when the disclosure is initiated by a parent or eligible student or an annual notice provided to parents and eligible students by the district informs them that such records will be automatically disclosed to these institutions for the purposes of enrollment or transfer of the student;
Authorized persons to whom a student has applied for or from whom a student has received financial aid;
State and local officials or authorities to whom such information is specifically required to be reported or disclosed pursuant to state statutes;
Organizations conducting studies for educational agencies for the purpose of developing, validating or administering student tests or programs;
Accrediting organizations;
Parents of a student 18 years of age if parents claim the student as a dependent for income tax purposes;
Appropriate persons if knowledge of any information is necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or other persons in an emergency;
An agency caseworker or representative of a state or local child welfare agency or tribal organization who has the right to access a student’s case plan when such agency or organization is legally responsible for the care and protection of the student and when any further disclosure of such information thereby will be limited in accordance with law; and
In compliance with a lawfully issued subpoena or judicial order.
Access will be granted to any third party upon written authorization of the eligible student, parent or guardian.
No personally identifiable information contained in personal school records shall be furnished to any person other than those named herein. When there is written instruction from the student’s parents, guardian or the eligible student specifying the records, the reasons and the person(s) to whom the release is to be made, a copy of the records to be released shall be made available to the student, parents or guardian upon request. When information is requested in compliance with a judicial order or pursuant to any lawfully issued subpoena, parent(s)/guardian and the student shall be notified of the orders or subpoenas in advance of compliance with the order or subpoena unless:
the order or subpoena specifically forbids such disclosure; or
the order is issued in the context of a court proceeding where a parent is a party and the proceeding involves child abuse and neglect or dependency matters.
Nothing contained in this policy shall preclude authorized representatives of the Comptroller General of the United States, the Secretary and an administrative head of an educational agency or state authorities from having access to student or other records which may be necessary in connection with the audit and evaluation of federally supported education programs or the enforcement of the federal legal requirements which relate to these programs. The data collection by such official with respect to individual students shall not include information (including social security numbers) which would permit the personal identification of students or their parents or guardian on the data collected and provided.
All persons, agencies or organizations desiring access to the records of a student shall be required to sign a form, which shall be kept permanently with the student’s file, but only for inspection by the parents/guardian, the student or a school official responsible for record maintenance. The form signed shall indicate the specific educational or other interest each person, agency or organization has in seeking this information.
Personal information shall be transferred to a third party only on the condition that such party shall not permit any other party to have access to such information without the written consent of the student’s parents or the eligible student. The board and staff shall protect the rights of privacy of students and their families in connection with any surveys or data-gathering activities conducted, assisted or authorized by the board or administration. Regulations established under this policy shall include provisions controlling the use, dissemination and protection of such data.
Forwarding Pupil Records
Administrators shall forward student’s school records upon request and may not withhold them for any reason.
Approved: January 25, 2017
