Date Adopted: 9 August 2017
Current Review / Revision: 10 April 2024
Table of Contents
DATA GOVERNANCE POLICY
Purpose: Data governance is an organizational approach to data and information management that is formalized as a set of policies and procedures that encompass the full life cycle of data, from acquisition, to use, to disposal. The Utah Board of Education and Emery School District take seriously the moral and legal responsibility to protect student privacy and ensure data security. Utah’s Student Data Protection Act (SDPA), U.C.A §53E-9-301 requires that Emery School District adopt a Data Governance Plan.
Scope & Applicability: This policy is applicable to all employees, temporary employees, and contractors of the Agency. The policy must be used to assess agreements made to disclose data to third-parties. This policy must also be used to assess the risk of conducting business. In accordance with Agency policy and procedures, this policy will be reviewed and adjusted on an annual basis or more frequently, as needed. This policy is designed to ensure only authorized disclosure of confidential information. The following 8 subsections provide data governance policies and processes for Emery School District:
Data Advisory Groups
Structure: Emery School District has a three-tiered data governance structure to ensure that data is
protected at all levels of Utah’s educational system.
Group Membership: Membership in the groups require board approval. Group membership is for two years. If individual members exit the group prior to fulfilling their two-year appointment, the board may authorize Emery School District’s Chief Officer to appoint a replacement member.
Individual and Group Responsibilities
LEA Student Data Managers
Employee non-disclosure assurances are intended to minimize the risk of human error and misuse of
information.
Scope: All Emery School District board members, employees, contractors and volunteers must sign and obey the Emery School District Employee Non-Disclosure Agreement (See Appendix A), which describes the permissible uses of state technology and information.
Non-Compliance: Non-compliance with the agreements shall result in consequences up to and including removal of access to the Emery School District network; if this access is required for employment, employees and contractors may be subject to dismissal.
Non-Disclosure Assurances: All student data utilized by Emery School District is protected as defined by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Utah statute. This policy outlines the way Emery School District staff is to utilize data and protect personally identifiable and confidential information. A signed agreement form is required from all Emery School District staff to verify agreement to adhere to/abide by these practices and will be maintained in Emery School District. All Emery School District employees (including contract or temporary) will:
Data Security and Privacy Training
Purpose: Emery School District will provide a range of training opportunities for all District staff, including volunteers, contractors and temporary employees with access to student educational data or confidential educator records in order to minimize the risk of human error and misuse of information.
Scope: All District board members, employees, and contracted partners.
Compliance: New employees that do not comply may not be able to use District networks or technology.
Policy
Data Disclosure
Purpose: Providing data to persons and entities outside of the Emery School District increases transparency, promotes education in Utah, and increases knowledge about Utah public education. This policy establishes the protocols and procedures for sharing data maintained by Emery School District. It is intended to be consistent with the disclosure provisions of the federal Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. 1232g, 34 CFR Part 99 and Utah’s Student Data Protection Act (SDPA),
U.C.A §53E-9-301.
Policy for disclosure of Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
The Coordinator of Data and Statistics will ensure the proper data disclosure avoidance are included if
necessary. An Interagency Agreement must be reviewed by legal staff and must include “FERPA-Student Level Data Protection Standard Terms and Conditions or Required Attachment Language.”
External Disclosure of Non-Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
Scope: External data requests from individuals or organizations that are not intending on conducting external research or are not fulfilling a state or federal reporting requirement, audit, or evaluation.
Student Data Disclosure Risk Levels: Emery School District has determined three levels of data requests with corresponding policies and procedures for appropriately protecting data based on risk: Low, Medium, and High. The Coordinator of Data and Statistics will make final determinations on classification of student data requests risk level.
Low-Risk Data Request Process
High-Risk Data Request Process
folder managed by the Coordinator of Data and Statistics. The Data Steward closes the ticket. If it does not pass QA, the data are sent back to the Data Steward for modification.
Data Disclosure to a Requesting External Researcher or Evaluator
Responsibility: The Coordinator of Data and Statistics will ensure the proper data are shared with external researcher or evaluator to comply with federal, state, and board rules.
Emery School District may not disclose personally identifiable information of students to external persons or organizations to conduct research or evaluation that is not directly related to a state or federal program audit or evaluation. Data that do not disclose PII may be shared with external researcher or evaluators for projects unrelated to federal or state requirements if:
Process: Research Proposal must be submitted using this form: http://www.schools.utah.gov/data/Data-Request/ResearcherProposal.aspx. Research proposals are sent directly to the Coordinator of Data and Statistics for review. If the request is approved, an MOA is drafted and sent to legal, placed on the board consent calendar, reviewed by the Superintendent, sent to the Purchasing/Contract Manager, sent to Coordinator or Data and Statistics, appropriate Data Steward fulfills request, de-identifies data as appropriate, and sends to another Data Steward for Quality Assurance (ensuring student data protection). If it passes QA, data are sent to requester and saves the dataset in a secure folder managed by the Coordinator of Data and Statistics. The Data Steward closes the ticket. If it does not pass QA, the data are sent back to the Data Steward for modification.
Data Breach
Purpose: Establishing a plan for responding to a data breach, complete with clearly defined roles and responsibilities, will promote better response coordination and help educational organizations shorten their incident response time. Prompt response is essential for minimizing the risk of any further data loss and, therefore, plays an important role in mitigating any negative consequences of the breach, including potential harm to affected individuals.
Policy: Emery School District shall follow industry best practices to protect information and data. In the event of a data breach or inadvertent disclosure of personally identifiable information, Emery School District staff shall follow industry best practices outlined in the Agency IT Security Policy for responding to the breach. Further, Emery School District shall follow best practices for notifying affected parties, including students, in the case of an adult student, or parents or legal guardians, if the student is not an adult student.
Concerns about security breaches must be reported immediately to the IT security manager who will collaborate with appropriate members of the Emery School District executive team to determine whether a security breach has occurred. If the Emery School District data breach response team determines that one or more employees or contracted partners have substantially failed to comply with Emery School
District’s Agency IT Security Policy and relevant privacy policies, they will identify appropriate consequences, which may include termination of employment or a contract and further legal action. Concerns about security breaches that involve the IT Security Manager must be reported immediately to the Superintendent.
Emery School District will provide and periodically update, in keeping with industry best practices, resources for Utah LEAs in preparing for and responding to a security breach. Emery School District will make these resources available on its website.
Records Retention and Expungement
Purpose: Records retention and expungement policies promote efficient management of records, preservation of records of enduring value, quality access to public information, and data privacy. The LEA recognizes the risk associated with data following a student year after year that could be used to mistreat the student. The LEA shall review all requests for records expungement from parents and make a determination based on the following procedure.
Scope: Emery School District board members and staff.
Procedure
The following records may not be expunged: grades, transcripts, a record of the student’s enrollment, assessment information.
The procedure for expungement shall match the record amendment procedure found in 34 CFR 99, Subpart C of FERPA.
Policy: The Emery School District staff, Utah LEAs and schools shall retain and dispose of student records in accordance with the Utah Division of Archive and Record Services, and shall comply with active retention schedules. The Emery School District may expunge medical records and behavioral test assessments. Emery School District will not expunge student records of grades, transcripts, a record of the student’s enrollment or assessment information. Emery School District staff will collaborate with Utah State Archives and Records Services in updating data retention schedules. Emery School District maintained student-level discipline data will be expunged after three years.
Quality Assurances and Transparency Requirements
Purpose: Data quality is achieved when information is valid for the use to which it is applied, is consistent with other reported data and users of the data have confidence in and rely upon it. Good data quality does not solely exist with the data itself but is also a function of appropriate data interpretation/use and the perceived quality of the data. Thus, true data quality involves not just those auditing, cleaning and reporting the data, but also data consumers. Data quality is addressed in five areas:
Data Governance Structure
The Emery School District data governance policy is structured to encourage the effective and appropriate use of educational data. The Emery School District data governance structure centers on the idea that data is the responsibility of all Emery School District sections and that data driven decision making is the goal of all data collection, storage, reporting and analysis. Data driven decision making guides what data is collected, reported and analyzed.
Data Requirements and Definitions
Clear and consistent data requirements and definitions are necessary for good data quality. On the data collection side, the Emery School District communicates data requirements and definitions to LEAs through the Data Clearinghouse Update Transactions documentation (see http://www.schools.utah.gov/computerservices/Data-Clearinghouse.aspx). The Emery School District also communicates with LEA IT staff regularly, at monthly Data Warehouse Group meetings and at biannual Data Conferences. Where possible, Emery School District program specialists are invited to these meetings and the same guidance is given to the appropriate LEA program directors.
On the data reporting side, the production and presentation layers provide standard data definitions and business rules. Data Stewards coordinate data releases through the Data Stewards Group meetings. All data released includes relevant data definitions, business rules, and are date stamped. Further, Data and Statistics produces documentation, trainings and FAQs on key statistics and reports, such as proficiency, growth, graduation rate and class size.
Data Collection
Data elements should be collected only once—no duplicate data collections are permitted. Where possible, data is collected at the lowest level available (i.e. at the student/teacher level). Thus, there are no aggregate data collections if the aggregate data can be derived or calculated from the detailed data.
For all new data collections, Emery School District provides to LEAs clear guidelines for data collection and the purpose of the data request. The Emery School District also notifies LEAs as soon as possible about future data collections. Time must be given to LEAs in order for them to begin gathering the data needed.
Data Auditing
Data and Statistics Data Analysts perform regular and ad hoc data auditing. They analyze data in the warehouse for anomalies, investigate the source of the anomalies, and work with IT and/or LEAs in explaining and/or correcting the anomalies. Data Analysts also work with School Finance to address findings from the Auditors.
Quality Control Checklist
Checklists have been proven to increase quality (See Appendix C). Therefore, before releasing high-risk data, Data Stewards and Data Analysts must successfully complete the data release checklist in three areas: reliability, validity and presentation.
Data Transparency
Annually, Emery School District will publicly post:
Appendix A: Emery School District Employee Data Privacy Non-Disclosure Agreement
As an employee of the Emery School District, I hereby affirm that:
Consequences for Non-Compliance
Termination of Employment
Print Name:
Signed:
Date:
Appendix B: Protecting PII in Public Reporting
Data Gateway Statistical Reporting Method for Protecting PII
Public education reports offer the challenge of meeting transparency requirements while also meeting legal requirements to protect each student’s personally identifiable information (PII). Recognizing this, the reporting requirements state that subgroup disaggregation of the data may not be published if the results would yield personally identifiable information about an individual student. While the data used by the Emery School District and local education agencies (LEAs) is comprehensive, the data made available to the public is masked to avoid unintended disclosure of personally identifiable information at summary school, LEA, or state-level reports.
This is done by applying the following statistical method for protecting PII.
For subgroups with 300 or more students, apply the following suppression rules.
For subgroups with 100 or more than but less than 300 students, apply the following suppression rules.
For subgroups with 40 or more but less than 100 students, apply the following suppression rules.
For subgroups with 20 or more but less than 40 students, apply the following suppression rules.
For subgroups with 10 or more but less than 20 students, apply the following suppression rules.
Appendix C: Quality Control Checklist
TECHNOLOGY SECURITY POLICY
Purpose: The purpose of this policy is to ensure the secure use and handling of all district data, computer systems and computer equipment by District students, patrons, and employees.
Technology Security: It is the policy of the Emery School District to support secure network systems in the district, including security for all personally identifiable information that is stored on paper or stored digitally on district-maintained computers and networks. This policy supports efforts to mitigate threats that may cause harm to the district, its students, or its employees.
The district will ensure reasonable efforts will be made to maintain network security. Data loss can be caused by human error, hardware malfunction, natural disaster, security breach, etc., and may not be preventable.
All persons who are granted access to the district network and other technology resources are expected to be careful and aware of suspicious communications and unauthorized use of district devices and the network. When an employee or other user becomes aware of suspicious activity, he/she is to immediately contact the district’s Information Security Officer with the relevant information.
This policy and procedure also covers third party vendors/contractors that contain or have access to Emery School District critically sensitive data. All third party entities will be required to sign the Restriction on Use of Confidential Information Agreement before accessing our systems or receiving information.
It is the policy of Emery School District to fully conform with all federal and state privacy and data governance laws. Including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S. Code §1232g and 34 CFR Part 99 (hereinafter “FERPA”), the Government Records and Management Act U.C.A. §63G-2 (hereinafter “GRAMA”), U.C.A. §53E-9-301 et seq and Utah Administrative Code R277-487.
Professional development for staff and students regarding the importance of network security and best practices are included in the procedures. The procedures associated with this policy are consistent with guidelines provided by cyber security professionals worldwide and in accordance with Utah Education Network and the Utah State Office of Education. Emery School District supports the development, implementation and ongoing improvements for a robust security system of hardware and software that is designed to protect Emery School District’s data, users, and electronic assets.
Definitions
Training
Physical Security
Network Security
The use of RF (Radio Frequency) readers and hacking devices is strictly
prohibited within Emery County School District. This includes, but is not
limited to, any device capable of intercepting, emulating, manipulating, or
accessing electronic data transmissions without proper authorization.
policy, as well as local and federal laws governing data privacy and protection.
Access Control
Incident Management
Business Continuity
Malicious Software
Internet Content Filtering
Data Privacy
Security Audit and Remediation
Employee Disciplinary Actions shall be in accordance with applicable laws, regulations and District policies. Any employee found to be in violation may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment with the Emery School District.
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) Notice for Directory Information
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a Federal law, requires that Emery School District, with certain exceptions, obtain your written consent prior to the disclosure of personally identifiable information from your child’s education records. However, Emery School District may disclose appropriately designated “directory information” without written consent, unless you have advised the District to the contrary in accordance with District procedures. The primary purpose of directory information is to allow the Emery School District to include this type of information from your child’s education records in certain school publications. Examples include:
Directory information, which is information that is generally not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if released, can also be disclosed to outside organizations without a parent’s prior written consent. Outside organizations include, but are not limited to, companies that manufacture class rings or publish yearbooks. In addition, two federal laws require local educational agencies (LEAs) receiving assistance under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to provide military recruiters, upon request, with the following information – names, addresses and telephone listings – unless parents have advised the LEA that they do not want their student’s information disclosed without their prior written consent.
If you do not want Emery School District to disclose directory information from your child’s education records without your prior written consent, you must notify the District in writing. Emery School District has designated the following information as directory information:
Emery School District Prohibited Activities without Prior Consent
In accordance with 53A-13-301 and 53A-13-302, LEAs shall adopt policies governing the protection of family and student privacy. These policies shall require prior written consent of the parent or legal guardian of a student before administering and collecting the information listed below, whether information is personally identifiable or not.
Prohibited Activities:
Any psychological or psychiatric examination, test, or treatment, or any survey, analysis, or evaluation, in which the purpose or intended effect is to cause the student to reveal information concerning the student's or any family member's:
A general consent used to approve admission to school or involvement in special education, remedial education, or a school activity does not constitute written consent under this policy. Prior written consent shall be required from the parent or legal guardian of a student in all grades, kindergarten through grade
Requirements for Valid Prior, Written Consent:
Parent shall be provided written notice, at least two weeks prior to administration (except in response to a situation which a school employee reasonably believes to be an emergency, or as authorized under Title 62A, Chapter 4a, Part 4, Child Abuse or Neglect Reporting Requirements, or by order of a court).
Following disclosure, a parent or guardian may waive the two-week minimum notification period. This notice shall include:
Authorization: The prior consent is valid only for the activity for which it was granted, unless otherwise agreed to by a student's parent or legal guardian and the person requesting written consent. To terminate the authorization, the authorizing parent or guardian shall submit a written withdrawal of authorization to the school principal.
Exceptions: If a school employee or agent believes that a situation exists which presents a serious threat to the well-being of a student, that employee or agent shall notify the student's parent or guardian without delay, unless the matter has been reported to the Division of Child and Family Services within the Department of Human Services.
If a school employee, agent, or school resource officer believes a student is at-risk of attempting suicide, physical self-harm, or harming others, the school employee, agent, or school resource officer may intervene and ask a student questions regarding the student's suicidal thoughts, physically self-harming behavior, or thoughts of harming others for the purposes of:
In accordance with §53A-11a-203(3), schools shall notify parents or legal guardians of such threats and incidents. Following parent notification of student suicide threat, bullying incident, cyber-bullying incident, harassment incident, hazing incident or retaliation incident, schools shall maintain a record of the notification, securely and confidentially, consistent with §53A-11a-203.
Parent or guardian was notified of suicide threat
bullying incident
cyber-bullying incident
harassment incident
hazing incident
retaliation incident
Emery School District Record Retention and Expungement
Board Rule- Record retention and expungement
Utah LEAs and schools shall retain and dispose of student records in accordance with Section 63G-2-604, 53E-9-301, and comply with active retention schedules for student records per Utah Division of Archive and Record Services.
In accordance with 53E-9-301, the LEAs shall expunge student data that is stored by the education entity upon request of the student if the student is at least 23 years old. The LEAs may expunge medical records and behavioral test assessments. An education entity shall not expunge student records of grades,
transcripts, a record of the student’s enrollment or assessment information.
An LEA or school may create and maintain a cumulative disciplinary record for a student.
Emery School District Employee Data Sharing and Confidentiality Agreement
To minimize the risk of human error and misuse of information, Emery School District will provide a range of training opportunities for all Emery School District staff, including volunteers, contractors and temporary employees with access to student educational data or confidential educator records.
All Emery School District employees and contracted partners must sign and obey the Emery School District Employee Acceptable Use Policy, which describes the permissible uses of state technology and information. Emery School District employees and contracted partners also must sign and obey the Emery School District Employee Data Sharing and Confidentiality Agreement, which describes appropriate uses and the safeguarding of student and educator data. New Emery School District employees must sign the aforementioned documents prior to being granted access to Emery School District systems.
As of the adoption of this policy, existing Emery School District employees will be given 90 days to complete the required training and sign the aforementioned documents. Thereafter, all employees will be required to participate in an annual Data Security and Privacy Fundamentals training, which is mandatory for continued access to the Emery School District network. These signed agreements will be maintained in the employee’s file in Emery School District human resources office. Non-compliance with the agreements shall result in consequences up to and including removal of access to the Emery School District network; if this access is required for employment, employees and contractors may be subject to dismissal.
Additionally, Emery School District requires targeted information security and privacy training for specific groups within the agency and provides updated guidance to local education agencies concerning compliance with state and federal privacy laws and best practices in this ever-changing environment.
Emery School District Data Sharing Agreement
Prior to sharing personally identifiable student information for purposes of educational studies on behalf of educational agencies or institutions, Emery School District must enter into a written agreement. This agreement establishes the terms and conditions under which the Emery School District will grant access of personally identifiable information (PII) from education records to
(Applying Entity/Organization) Requirements for data sharing agreements to disclose student data for studies on behalf of educational agencies or institutions:
Study Description: purpose of the study to be conducted; scope of the proposed study; duration of the study, and information to be disclosed.
*This description must include research methodology used, and why disclosure of personally identifiable (PII) information from education records is necessary to accomplish this research.
Emery School District will not disclose all of the personally identifiable information from its education records; it will determine only the specific elements the authorized representative needs and disclose only those. Agreement requires the authorized representative to use personally identifiable information only to meet the purpose of the disclosure as stated in the written agreement and not for commercial purposes or
further disclosure. Approval to use the personally identifiable information (PII) from the education records for one study, audit, or evaluation does not confer approval to use it for another.
Designated individual or entity that will serve as the authorized representative.
*If an entity, specify the individuals directly responsible for managing the requested data.
This agreement requires the authorized representative to conduct the study in a manner that does not permit the personal identification of parents and students by anyone other than representatives of the organization with legitimate interests. The agreement requires the authorized representative to conduct the study not identifying students or their parents. The authorized representative will allow internal access to personally identifiable information (PII) from education records only to individuals with a need to know for the purposes of the study. The authorized representative will take steps to maintain the confidentiality of the personally identifiable information (PII) at all stages of the study, including within the final report, by using appropriate disclosure avoidance techniques.
Monitoring implementation of data sharing agreements:
In addition to all of the precautions addressed above, agreement requires the following assurances to protect personally identifiable (PII) information from further disclosure and unauthorized use:
Consequences for failure to comply with data sharing agreements
An individual may file a written complaint with Emery School District regarding an alleged violation of a data sharing agreement or contract. A complaint must contain specific allegations of fact giving reasonable cause to believe that a violation of a data sharing agreement or contract has occurred. Emery School District will investigate all reasonable and timely complaints. Emery School District may also conduct its
own investigation without a complaint, or if a complaint has been withdrawn, to determine whether a violation has occurred.
As required by FERPA, if an authorized representative that receives data to perform evaluations, audits, or compliance activities improperly discloses the data, Emery School District shall deny that representative further access to personally identifiable data for at least five years. In addition, Emery School District may pursue penalties permitted under state contract law, such as liquidated damages.
By the signatures of representatives below, Emery School District and
, intending to be legally bound, agree to all of the provisions of this Data Sharing Agreement.
Name of representative of Applying
Entity/Organization
Signature:Date:
Emery School District representative
Signature:Date:
Emery School District Data Sharing Agreement (Audits, Evaluation or Compliance Monitoring)
Prior to sharing personally identifiable student information for purposes of educational studies for audits, evaluation or compliance monitoring, Emery School District must enter into a written agreement. This agreement establishes the terms and conditions under which the Emery School District will grant access to personally identifiable information (PII) from education records to(Applying Entity/Organization)
Requirements for data sharing agreements to disclose student data for audits, evaluation or compliance monitoring
Study Description:
Designated individual or entity that will serve as the authorized representative:
*If an entity, specify the individuals directly responsible for managing the requested data
Authorized representative will use personally identifiable information only to meet the purpose of the disclosure as stated in the written agreement and not for commercial purposes or further disclosure.
Authorized representative must destroy the personally identifiable information (PII) from the education records when the information is no longer required for the purpose specified and must be clear about how the education records were destroyed. The agreement must identify a specific time for destruction based on the facts and circumstances surrounding the disclosure and study. Emery School District may extend the time if needed.
The agreement requires the authorized representative to provide written confirmation to Emery School District when education records are destroyed;
Emery School District will not disclose all of the personally identifiable information (PII) from its education records; it will determine only the specific elements the authorized representative needs and disclose only those. Agreement requires the authorized representative to use personally identifiable information (PII) only to meet the purpose of the disclosure as stated in the written agreement and not for commercial purposes or further disclosure. Approval to use the personally identifiable information (PII) from the education records for one study, audit, or evaluation does not confer approval to use it for another.
Monitoring implementation of data sharing agreements:
In addition to all of the precautions addressed above, agreement requires the following assurances to protect personally identifiable information (PII) from further disclosure and unauthorized use:
Consequences for failure to comply with data sharing agreements
An individual may file a written complaint with Emery School District regarding an alleged violation of a data sharing agreement or contract. A complaint must contain specific allegations of fact giving reasonable cause to believe that a violation of a data sharing agreement or contract has occurred. Emery School District will investigate all reasonable and timely complaints. Emery School District may also conduct its own investigation without a complaint, or if a complaint has been withdrawn, to determine whether a violation has occurred.
As required by FERPA, if an authorized representative that receives data to perform evaluations, audits, or compliance activities improperly discloses the data, Emery School District shall deny that representative further access to personally identifiable data for at least five years. In addition, Emery School District may pursue penalties permitted under state contract law, such as liquidated damages.
By the signatures of representatives below, Emery School District and
, intending to be legally bound, agree to all of the provisions of this Data Sharing Agreement.
Name of representative of Applying
Entity/Organization
Signature:Date:
Emery School District representative
Signature:Date:
Emery School District
Employee Data Privacy Non-Disclosure Agreement As an employee of the Emery School District, I hereby affirm that: (Initial)
Using Emery School District Data and Reporting Systems
Handling Sensitive Data
Reporting & Data Sharing
Consequences for Non-Compliance
Termination of Employment
120 N Main
Huntington, UT 84528
ecsdcontact@emeryschools.org
(435) 687-9846