NJ school accidentally released names of kids who opted out of sex education njcom

pA Cherry Hill resident has asked the US Department of Education to investigate the Cherry Hill School District for releasing the names of dozens of students whose families opted them out of sex education classesppHarvey Vazquez a district parent and former school board candidate told the department last week that the district violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act He was told to expect a response in three months he said FridayppThe breach came after an education advocacy group filed public records requests in every district in the state to measure how many families were opting out of the classes held under revised sexual education standards adopted in 2020 Some critics felt the curriculum guidelines introduced topics like masturbation and gender identity to students when they were too youngppSuperintendent Kwame Morton said the district had redacted the names but that they reappeared when posted on the OPRAmachine website that helps people file public records requests The names were removed last week Morton saidppIn a Nov 4 letter from Morton to Vazquez and other parents he wrote We have revised our processes to protect student information from any future exposure and are diligently working with all parties involved to ensure the complete protection of personal data he said The letter which did not include an apology said the names had been redacted in one computer format PDF but reappeared when published in another format HTMLppIn an email Friday afternoon Morton said I am pleased to report that there have been no known reports of negative interactions or teasing among the students involved as a result of this incident We understand the seriousness of maintaining our students privacy and are committed to implementing enhanced secure redaction techniques to prevent such occurrences in the futureppVazquez had scolded the board at its Oct 29 meeting demanding immediate action to address the breach which he said could leave the district open to a class action suit He also demanded a public apology to the familiesppI am referring to the unauthorized disclosure of personal information pertaining to my son and at least 82 other students in our district he said It is utterly unacceptable that the names of students who opted out of this curriculum during the 20222023 school year were disclosed He said they were posted Sept 1 2023ppVazquez who narrowly missed being elected to the board this month said he saw the names online while doing research for his campaign this fall He told NJ Advance Media Friday that he received documents showing that at least one school official knew of the breach for almost a year but did not fix it or report itppThe breach involved students in A Russell Knight Bret Harte Richard Stockton and Thomas Paine Elementary Schools Vazquez saidppFrom their requests the advocacy group the New Jersey Public Schools Coalition learned that fewer than 3 of students were opted out of sex education classes statewide refuting conservative claims that a larger portion of families had pulled their children from the classesppIn an Oct 9 press release the coalition wrote This clearly confirms that the claims of the rightwing organizations do not represent a majority and the organizations that have been making those claims are misinformed and have been pursuing a campaign of disinformation These organizations do not represent anything near a majority of parentsppMichael Gottesman head of the coalition said he did not see the names only the projects data compiler didppOur journalism needs your support Please subscribe today to NJcomppTina Kelley may be reached at tkelleynjadvancemediacomppIf you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site we may receive compensation By using this site you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks interactions and personal information may be collected recorded andor stored by us and social media and other thirdparty partners in accordance with our Privacy PolicyppUse of andor registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement updated 812024 and acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy and Your Privacy Choices and Rights updated 712024pp 2024 Advance Local Media LLC All rights reserved About Us The material on this site may not be reproduced distributed transmitted cached or otherwise used except with the prior written permission of Advance LocalppCommunity Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this siteppYouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available hereppAd Choicesp