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Departments and Programs » Information and Educational Technology » Board Approved Websites and Applications

Board Approved Websites and Applications

Sites that Must Be Board Approved

Any website or web-based application that at the district’s, teacher’s or student’s option may collect student information even to assist the student and/or teacher in the learning process must be approved by the Board of Education. 

These sites must be checked for compliance with student privacy laws, and ideally indicating compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and/or the Student Privacy Pledge.

Educational websites which are not fully compliant can be approved with the restrictions, for example: >13 or with parental approval.


Exceptions

Websites and Apps that do not need to be submitted for approval, and thus do not appear on the list of Board Approved Websites include:

  • Websites that do not collect student information. Examples are those sites which don't require a login or ask for any identifying information.

  • Educational websites associated with Board approved textbooks. One example is Go Math!.


Approval Process

If there is any website or web-based application that you would like considered for approval, please email the URL to [email protected] at least 2 weeks before the next board meeting. The site will be checked for compliance and restrictions. If it passes, it will be proposed for approval at the board meeting.

Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) puts special restrictions on software companies about the information they can collect about students under 13. So, students under 13 can't make their own accounts, teachers have to make the accounts for them. In making the accounts, teachers need to be aware of their responsibility under FERPA.

 

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) requires that schools have written permission from the parent or guardian in order to release any information from a student's education record. So the most important thing is that, with some very specific exceptions, student information should not be shared with apps and websites without parent permission.

 

STUDENT PRIVACY PLEDGE - The Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) and The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) introduced a Student Privacy Pledge to safeguard student privacy regarding the collection, maintenance, and use of student personal information. The commitments are intended to concisely detail existing federal law and regulatory guidance regarding the collection and handling of student data, and to encourage service providers to more clearly articulate these practices.