Photo: Psychographics: How big data is watching you. -Hult International Business School
**
**
PROTECT CHILDREN NEVADA: (website) Help’s educate parents on what they need to know to protect their children from what’s happening in Nevada schools, and most schools in the country. Especially: screen time, the collection, storage, and sharing of student data via authorized and unauthorized entities. Many of these entities create student profiles on children (without parental consent) and some of them store student data forever (again without parental consent). We don’t know how the profiles or the data stored forever will affect the future of our children. Experts realize screen time more negatively affects certain children. We have also learned some of the “free” EdTech vendors have questionable content.
Click here to go directly to my three minute public comment at the 2/14/2023 Washoe County School Board meeting. Then watch the superintendent and board president reprimand me (John Eppolito) for pointing out that one of the staff members who makes over $210,000 (with benefits) has given the board incorrect information, that may negatively affect the future of WCSD students, at least twice, immediately before an important vote.
Care Solace is a vendor that will referrer WCSD students to psychological services. In the contract with Care Solace it states: “The District may act as the parent’s agent and can consent to the collection of students PII (personally identifiable information).” The attorney said this contract has “pretty common language.” The board voted 5 to 2 to approve the contract and pay Care Solace $152,500.
We at Protect Nevada Children believe that, “the District may act as the parent’s agent” is new language vendors are now placing in their contracts, as we have looked at dozens of these contracts and until recently we didn’t see this language!
WCSD now has 473 vendors designated as “School Officials,” many of them provide “free” software and apps. to the District. Yes, they are “free” to the District, many now realize they are free to school districts because they are paid with student data. We’ve asked the board and superintendent if the District is acting as the “parent’s agent” for all 473 vendors. They haven’t responded.
Unfortunately there is no one to hold the board and superintendent accountable!
At least a couple of us plan on attending the next school board meeting, 2/28/2023 starting at 2 PM. At the beginning of the meeting the board will likely vote to approve $5.3 M for IT networking equipment, $441,000 for more student devices, $603,000 for three new administrators (items 2.18 and 2.19 on the Consent Agenda).
You can speak on Consent Agenda items at the beginning of the meeting before the board votes on them.
If available and interested please join us and speak up!
John Eppolito
[custom-twitter-feeds feed=2]
