November 11, 2010

Dear Parents,

Prior to the November election, the district became aware that a phone list requested in late April as a response to a Public Information Request [by Joe Adams] was used by the Team Katy PAC for automated phone calls. At the time that the list was produced on May 4, 2010, as well as when the district became aware of the situation, we sincerely believed that the list created was in accordance with the Texas Public Information Act and the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) as no information identifying a student or parent was released.

Wanting to make sure, however, that we were correct in our interpretation, we asked our legal counsel to review what was released last May. As such, we have learned that the district was required to release a large majority of the numbers. However, the phone numbers that were associated with students whose parents chose a privacy code of "O" or "N" should not have been released. Because the request was made for parent phone numbers only instead of the typical student numbers, privacy codes were not attached. This was an unintended mistake on our part and we sincerely apologize for this lapse.

We have reviewed our procedures to ensure that the release of directory information deemed not public does not occur again. We are in the process of clarifying the definition of telephone listing included as part of directory information for students, to include only the primary contact number provided for a student unless other numbers are designated as such by the parents. Requestors for parent or student telephone numbers will therefore only be provided the primary contact number, unless you have affirmatively indicated that you want more numbers released. We understand the desire by some to maintain numbers provided for emergencies as confidential and will do what we can to help keep them that way.

We are also including more information on our website to better inform parents of how the Texas Public Information Act relates to student information and the choices you as a parent have in keeping your child’s information private.

You not only entrust us with your children, you also entrust us with the information about them that we collect and store. This is a responsibility we take seriously and we will continue to work to keep both safe and secure.

Sincerely,

Alton Frailey
Superintendent