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Lawsuit Affects Release of Student Data -- Opt-Out Form Available

A recent lawsuit against the California Department of Education (CDE) is impacting all school districts across the state, including the Merced County Office of Education. We wanted to make you aware of this, and provide you with an opt-out form and other important information regarding this case.

In April 2012, two organizations, the Morgan Hill Concerned Parents Association and the Concerned Parent Association, filed a lawsuit against the CDE alleging widespread, systemic non-compliance by local education agencies with special education laws.

MCOE was not involved in the lawsuit and is not the subject of any of the suit's allegations. Nonetheless, as a part of this lawsuit, CDE has been ordered by the United States District Court to release all data it has collected on general and special education students since Jan. 1, 2008. While the court order reads in part, "No student's identifying records will be disclosed to the public," beyond those mentioned in the lawsuit, we wanted to make you aware of this.  

Parents/Guardians may complete and mail in an Opt-Out Form to prevent the release of student data: http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/di/ws/documents/form2016jan26.pdf. This must be done by April 1, 2016.    
 

MCOE goes to great lengths to protect your family's personal information, and we want to do all we can to help you keep it protected and stay informed.

CDE: http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr16/yr16rel15.asp

Information: http://mcoe.org/deptprog/SPED/Pages/SPED.aspx