Senate Bill 29

Senate Bill 29, the Education Record and Student Privacy Bill, contains information schools need to share with families regarding technology.  

General Monitoring of School-Issued Devices

In addition to complying with regulations regarding contracts with technology providers, districts must also notify families of the possibility of general monitoring under certain guidelines.  

Under SB29, school districts and technology providers may NOT electronically access or monitor:

1. Location-tracking features of a school-issued device;
2. Audio or visual receiving, transmitting, or recording feature of a school-issued device;
3. Student interactions with a school-issued device, including, but not limited to, keystrokes and web-browsing activity

UNLESS such access or monitoring is:

1. limited to a noncommercial educational purpose for instruction, tech support, or proctoring and notice is provided in advance;
2. permitted under a judicial warrant;
3. necessary because a device is missing or stolen;
4. necessary to prevent or respond to a threat to life or safety;
5. necessary to comply with federal or state law;
6. necessary to participate in federal or state funding programs.

School-issued devices include any hardware, software, or accounts provided to students for personal use. Students should have no expectation of privacy when using school-issued devices. Oakwood Schools and its technology providers can electronically access or monitor these devices under specific legal conditions. 

For example, to comply with the requirements of the Federal E-Rate funding programs, Oakwood filters all student internet access in alignment with Board policy. This includes filtering materials that are obscene, objectionable, inappropriate, and/or harmful to minors. School administrators may be alerted to questionable content for review. They can also receive information on possible self-harm indicators on student devices, and a parent will be contacted if it is determined to be a threat to life or safety.

Reasons for Monitoring School-Issued Devices

Throughout the school year, there are a limited number of situations in which the District and its technology providers may electronically access and monitor your student’s school-issued device. These reasons are:

1. For educational purposes for instruction, technical support or exam proctoring by school staff;
2. If required by a court order;
3. If the device is reported lost or stolen;
4. To respond to a threat to life or safety;
5. To comply with federal or state laws; and
6. As required by federal or state funding programs.

Notification to Parents and Guardians

For reason number one above, the District is providing you with advance notice that it and/or one of its technology providers intend to electronically access or monitor your student’s school-issued devices for non-commercial educational purposes for instruction, technical support or exam proctoring by school district employees or staff. It shall not be done for any reason other than educational purposes as outlined.

For reasons 2-6 listed above, the District or school will notify parents and guardians in writing about what was electronically accessed and why within 72 hours of the monitoring. If providing notice is a threat to life or safety, the notice will be provided within 72 hours after the threat has ended.

Third-Party Technology Providers

Ohio law (R.C. § 3319.326) requires the Oakwood City School District to inform students and parents about third-party technology providers that have access to student educational records.  The District uses the following technology providers, primarily for noncommercial educational and technical support purposes:

• OCSD Student Application List

These providers may access student education records, including test scores, reports, transcripts, class lists, schedules, communications, and health records, but only when necessary for their duties.

Google accounts are issued to Oakwood students in grades 1st through graduation and are an important part of their educational process. Students in grades 1-6 may only send and receive email from within the oakwoodschools.org domain and staff-approved addresses.

The District's legal team and administration review all technology contracts to ensure compliance with privacy laws. Parents and students have the right to:

• Review contracts with technology providers upon request.
• Review the data collected about their child.
• Request corrections to inaccurate data.
• Withdraw consent for software use at any time, which will end the child's access to that software.

The District is responsible for:

• Complying with data protection laws.
• Providing parents/guardians with access to their child’s data upon request.
• Notifying parents/guardians of any data breaches affecting their child’s information.

Have questions?
For questions or to review contracts or student data, please contact Matt Sproat, Technology Coordinator, at 937-297-1513 or sproat.matt@oakwoodschools.org