Nashville public school records containing private student information were reportedly found at a local Goodwill outlet, raising questions about whether Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) adequately protected student information covered by federal privacy law.
As first reported by WSMV, a Goodwill customer discovered stacks of MNPS records inside an item being sold at the outlet on Cockrill Bend Boulevard. The documents reportedly included student names, dates of birth, teacher and parent information, and what the outlet described as “behavior plans.”
Goodwill Middle Tennessee told WSMV that the documents were removed from the sales floor and turned over to its Asset Protection Department, which the company said is in contact with MNPS to arrange for their safe return.
“We are very thankful to the customer who brought this item to our attention,” a spokesperson told the outlet. “Per Goodwill policy, our outlet team removed this item from the sales floor and turned it over to the Goodwill Asset Protection Department.”
The discovery could raise questions under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which is administered by the U.S. Department of Education.
According to the Department of Education, FERPA defines education records as records directly related to a student and maintained by an educational agency or institution. The department also defines personally identifiable information to include direct identifiers such as a student’s name and indirect identifiers such as a student’s date of birth.
FERPA further requires educational agencies and institutions to use “reasonable methods” to ensure protected education records are accessible only to school officials with legitimate educational interests.
The Department of Education also defines a disclosure under FERPA as permitting access to, or releasing or transferring, personally identifiable information from education records to another party.
It remains unclear at this time how the records found at Goodwill left MNPS custody, whether the district followed proper procedures for disposing of documents containing student information, or whether the disclosure could constitute a violation of FERPA.
It is also unclear the quantity or how old the records were, or whether any of the documents contained additional protected information.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Mnps needs new leaders. Real leaders, not woke wannabes.
Just gets worse for our beloved schools. When will something change for the good of the students?