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Resident urges review after alleged disclosure of student homelessness data
Summary
During public comment, Glenny Sanchez said materials shared earlier with the City Council included names and addresses of students experiencing homelessness and asked whether parental consent and confidentiality safeguards were in place; the committee did not resolve the allegation and requested follow-up.
A resident raised privacy concerns at the April 15 Lawrence School Committee meeting, saying materials presented earlier this week to the City Council Budget & Finance Committee included identifiable information for students experiencing homelessness and asking whether parental consents or a formal data-sharing agreement had been obtained.
"I want to raise a concern about the disclosure of student information as part of an agenda item that was discussed earlier this week at the city council budget and finance committee," Glenny Sanchez told the committee, adding that the materials appeared to include students’ names and addresses and that less-intrusive aggregated data would have sufficed.
Sanchez asked four specific questions for the record: whether parental consent had been obtained, what safeguards ensured compliance with confidentiality requirements, whether a data-sharing agreement with the city council existed, and why nonidentifying alternatives were not used. She said the issue implicates federal student-privacy law and homeless-student protections.
Receiver Woo and the superintendent did not offer documentation during the meeting; Receiver Woo acknowledged the comment and indicated the administration would follow up. Committee members requested an electronic copy of the capacity-building plan and asked that materials be distributed to families in English and Spanish, but no immediate resolution of the privacy allegation was recorded.
Authorities and terminology: The transcript references federal privacy protections and the federal homeless-student law. The correct federal authorities generally associated with student records and homelessness are the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the McKinney‑Vento Homeless Assistance Act; the committee indicated it would provide follow-up information and documentation to clarify whether any disclosure complied with legal requirements.
What’s next: The committee asked district staff to circulate the capacity-building plan electronically to members and to provide public notification; the resident’s privacy questions were left on record and flagged for follow-up by the receiver and superintendent.
