Privacy and Security

Policy Brief

The variety of technological tools used within the school district allows for extensive educational research, skill enhancement, and communication. With those possibilities and the many underlying benefits associated with technology come issues concerning privacy and security. As a crucial community entity that houses vast amounts of personal information, as well as, connects to the outside world of internet communication, the school district needs to formulate its policy regarding privacy and security.

Safeguarding the personal information of employees and students is a major issue of both privacy and security. Determining the levels of confidentiality for personal information and the levels of accessibility by groups of people is of great importance. My first policy recommendation is to create a system of hierarchy for organizing personal information into categories of accessibility and determining the various levels of accessibility privileges. In the case of a student’s personal information, there are parts that are necessary for the school district to have on file, but will not be disseminated to all employees. There are other parts to a student’s personal information that will be accessible, but by only select individuals.

There are two major benefits associated with a system of hierarchy for personal information and accessibility privileges. First, clarifying levels of confidentiality for personal information will drastically diminish the chances of improper access. When confidentiality levels are set up, certain pieces of a student’s personal information can be strictly and clearly separated. A second benefit for a system of hierarchy is the clear delineation of accessibility rights for every employee regarding the students for whom they retain responsibilities. This pre-established limitation of information dissemination allows for employees to be knowledgeable of their accessibility privileges. The benefits associated with establishing a system of hierarchy for accessing a student’s personal information is affirmed by the vague procedure for school personnel presented by Bellingham Public Schools in Washington State. The statement of procedure can be found at the referenced website at the end of this document due to Bellingham Public Schools’ strict copyright notice. A disadvantage for a system of hierarchy is that the strict outline of the organization may need to be manipulated at times. Situations regarding students may fluctuate during their time in the school district. Quick adaptations may be necessary regarding personal information accessibility which can be slowed down by an established system of hierarchy.

My second policy recommendation for addressing privacy and security is to establish clear procedures and rules associated with administration’s management of the district employee actions regarding personal information. Employees must know what is expected of them in terms of conducting personal business and relaying personal information on company time and equipment. Analyzing possible methods of publication and distribution can help to focus on the establishment of clear procedures and rules.

A benefit associated with publishing and distributing district rules and procedures is that all employees can have a record on file for review at any time. Employees are directly given the opportunity to review rules and procedures first hand in order to maintain their professional integrity.

A disadvantage of publishing and distributing this information is the cost of materials and employee time needed to complete the job. As schools crunch the budgetary numbers, the expense of publishing the necessary information may not be a feasible endeavor.

Issues surrounding privacy and security in the workplace can be sensitive and time consuming, but the fact of the matter is these issues are necessary to address. As the district develops ideas for configuring policies on privacy and security, reviewing the possibilities present in this policy brief may prove to be helpful in making decisions.

Resources:

1. Administrative Procedure Bellingham School District, 2009. Web. 6 Nov. 2009 .