Walcott Promises to Further Discuss Plan to Share Student Records With Private Biz

NYC Department of Education (DOE) Chancellor Dennis Walcott touched on the city's plan to share students' confidential records with private corporations at Monday's town hall meeting with the District 13 Community Education Council (CEC), assuring those in attendance the plan is entirely lawful. 

Walcott explained the information will be stored in a cloud, which is a storage resource that is remotely accessible over a network, and will remain confidential. "I can say without any hesitancy that any information that goes there is confidential," he said.  

He said the NYC DOE has always shared information with the State Education Department (SED), and this new method will only serve to "help students in the long run." 

But the discussion is far from over. 

"I think it requires a deeper drill-down," Walcott said of the plan and its intricacies. And rather than trying to delve into details at a meeting meant for a much larger discussion, he proposed having a secondary meeting with the CEC. 

Experts, including lawyers and regulators close to the situation would come to the CEC, Walcott proposed. The suggestion was received well by council members as well as by education advocates and parents in attendance. 

"It's something that impacts you directly," Walcott said. 

Data being collected and shared includes names, addresses, emails, photos, grades, test scores, detailed disciplinary, health records, attendance records, race, ethnicity, and economic and disability status.

The meeting is tentatively planned for sometime in June, and Patch will bring you further information as it becomes available.