Parents, board members raise data-privacy and vetting concerns as Eva B. Stokley pushes DESSA social‑emotional screening

Eva B. Stokley Elementary Principal Miss Lewis told the Central Consolidated Schools Board on Jan. 21 that the school will administer the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA) this month as the assessment component of its Second Step social‑emotional learning (SEL) program.

The principal said the school began Second Step implementation last year after leadership identified high student incident rates and included the DESSA assessment in this year’s 90‑day plan. "We are now at a five percent incident rate, down from 45 percent last year," Miss Lewis said, noting the school wants data to understand whether Second Step drove that decline and which specific social‑emotional skills students need.

Board members, district staff and outside principals raised repeated questions about how the assessment was vetted, who will receive the underlying data and whether families — particularly on the Navajo Nation — are being given clear opt‑out information. Ms. Schnezza, a district program reviewer, said the district’s research and data department had not completed a formal vetting review before schools began implementation and accepted responsibility for the lapse.

Several board members pressed for more detail on the DESSA vendor and the data flow. Board Member Montoya and others asked whether the organization that hosts the assessment had sought review from the Navajo Nation Human Research and Review Board — a step they said is appropriate when outside entities collect student data on the Nation. Ms. Schnezza and Principal Lewis said the DESSA results would be produced to the school and could be aggregated for analysis; they also acknowledged the district’s vendor and outside research partners sometimes analyze submitted datasets.

District staff and board members also flagged California and New York precedents where similar school‑based SEL screening drew parental concerns. Ms. Schnezza cited federal rules (including concerns under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act for young children) and local expectations that parents be informed in a culturally and linguistically accessible way and be given an easy opt‑out. She said the district’s vetting process is the intended mechanism to prevent duplication with other in‑house programs and to ensure legal and cultural safeguards.

Principal Lewis said DESSA is being used as the assessment piece for a Second Step implementation already underway at the school and that staff expect teacher training and screening to occur this month. She described sample items and said teachers — not outside contractors — will complete most of the classroom assessments.

Board members requested that the district research office provide the board written information on the DESSA instrument, the vendor’s data practices, and whether the vendor had ever sought Navajo Nation research review. They also asked the administration to include a list of other SEL or climate programs used districtwide so the board can evaluate redundancy.

The district’s curriculum and data staff agreed to provide the materials and to re‑route future program implementations through the formal vetting process so board members and principals have comparable information before schools begin assessments.

Ending: Principal Lewis and district staff said they would move forward with the Second Step curriculum in classrooms while implementing teacher training and producing the requested written vetting materials for the board. The board asked that parents be informed in plain language and that the district document opt‑out procedures before large‑scale data collection or external analysis.