MORGAN HILL COURT ORDER UPDATE!

In a previous newsletter, we made you aware that, pursuant to a recent court order in the case of Morgan Hill Concerned Parents Association and the Concerned Parent Association v. California Department of Education (case # 2:11-cv-03471-KJM-AC), you and your school’s families had a right to object to the release of confidential student data by the California Department of Education.

The Morgan Hill lawsuit involves a group of plaintiffs, the Morgan Hill Concerned Parents Association and Concerned Parents Association, which are both non-profit organizations comprised of parents and guardians of children with disabilities. The Morgan Hill plaintiffs allege that the California Department of Education has violated the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and related laws by failing to monitor, investigate, provide services to, and enforce the rights of children with disabilities consistent with its obligations under the law. The CDE denies these allegations and the lawsuit is currently pending.

The Plaintiffs sought and obtained an order from the Court to force the California Department of Education to disclose subject to a Protective Order certain information concerning children with disabilities, including children who requested an assessment or who were assessed for special education eligibility, and children who are attending, or who have attended, a California school at any time since January 1, 2008. The information to be released included sensitive data such as social security numbers, names and other personally identifying information.

On March 1, Judge Kimberly Mueller ruled that “the most sensitive” information would not be released but must instead remain with the Department of Education. We would note that the ruling does not bar plantiffs from reviewing the information but instead only allows them to search the database for the information they had requested apparently under the supervision of the CDE.

Also, the ruling did not impact the release to plaintiffs’ attorneys of other information, including six years of statewide testing data and records of special-education students, who make up about 10 percent of pre-K-12 students statewide. Those databases include mental health and behavior records.

Parent who wish to object to the release of this information should visit the CDE website regarding the court order.