Danbury superintendent warns charter language could expose student data; commission keeps 'shall' for one finance access

Danbury City — Superintendent Kara Casimir told the Charter Revision Commission that proposed Section 6-17, which would codify city access to school financial records, risks exposing student and staff health and education records protected under federal law and should be narrowed to purpose-limited access.

"A local charter cannot override state statute," Casimir said, adding that granting real-time, systemwide access "would expose the city and district to financial compliance risk" and could place "sensitive information about children and disabilities and health conditions into the hands of offices with no legal basis to hold it." She recommended time-limited, designated access for audits under data-privacy agreements instead of permanent systemwide permissions.

The commission debated whether the draft should read "may" or "shall" in the paragraph giving city access. Advocates for the stronger wording cited past auditing problems — including repeated CFO turnover and unspent appropriations — and argued taxpayers deserve guaranteed access to the district's financial records. "I think 'shall' should be in there because there was many problems of millions of dollars over a course of several years," a commissioner said, summarizing concerns raised about fiscal transparency.

Corporation counsel told the commission he had no substantive statutory objection to the redlined language as drafted and pointed to a protective clause in the draft that says nothing in the section authorizes the mayor or finance department to direct or control educational operations or the lawful powers of the Board of Education. Counsel also noted the draft allows carve-outs for student-data protections and requires compliance with state and federal law.

Chair (speaker 2) said the redlines before the commission represented a compromise: the board of education suggested bracketed language that the district submitted, and the commission's current proposal limits access to a single designated city finance employee "for the sole purpose of the timely audits." The chair said that approach codifies the existing collaborative practice while preserving the board’s statutory discretion over how it spends appropriated funds.

Casimir told commissioners she and her finance staff welcome codified provisions that permit access to books, accounts and expenditure data for audit purposes, but cautioned that school financial systems hold student-level special-education cost tracking, health claims, and other records that are protected by FERPA, HIPAA and IDEA and noted those systems are purpose-built for district compliance reporting.

The commission signaled it will keep the "shall" language for the single designated access in the draft charter while retaining the safeguards and carving language intended to protect student privacy. The commission will circulate the revised draft for the public hearing scheduled for July 25; the commission plans to reconvene after the hearing to vote on adopting the draft for transmittal to the town clerk and city council.