Students, teachers and administrators alike make daily use of digital and online resources for collaboration, communication, consumption and and creation of instructional materials and practices. These services are available through agreements between the resources and Pontiac CCSD 429. Many of these resources are affiliated with an internet domain purchased and owned by the school and are intended for educational use.

Pontiac CCSD 429 staff will monitor student use of these resources when students are at school. Parents are also responsible for monitoring their child's use of these tools when at home. Students are responsible for their own behavior at all times. Student safety is our highest priority.

Before Pontiac CCSD 429 can allow students to access these online resources, we are required to obtain parental consent due to the policies set forth by the Child Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). This consent is located on the student registration form and is required by every parent to sign. COPPA applies to commercial companies and limits their ability to collect personal information from children under 13. District 5 takes every measure to ensure that no personal student information is collected for commercial purposes via these online resources. For more information related to COPPA, visit the COPPA FAQ.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords parents and students who are 18 years of age or older ("eligible students") certain rights with respect to the student's educational records.

Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA)

The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) was enacted by Congress in 2000 to address concerns about children's access to obscene or harmful content over the Internet. For more information related to CIPA, visit the FCC CIPA website.

**SOPPA CHANGES**

Effective July 1, 2021, school districts will be required by the Student Online Personal Protection Act (SOPPA) to provide additional guarantees that student data is protected when collected by educational technology companies, and that data is used for beneficial purposes only (105 ILCS 85).

What is SOPPA?

The Student Online Personal Protection Act (SOPPA) is the data privacy law that regulates student data collection and use by schools, the Illinois State Board of Education, and third-party vendors. As part of SOPPA, these vendors must enter into Data Privacy Agreements (DPA) with each district they work with. These agreements outline what data is store, how it is protected, what the company can and cannot do with the data, and what they will do in the event of a data breach.

The changes to SOPPA mandate that by July 2021, schools must have written agreements with all EdTech software vendors in use. Districts must also make readily available via their websites an overview of security practices, a description of how parents can ensure their student data privacy rights are being met, a list of approved vendors and their corresponding written agreements, and a list of any student data breaches that have impacted more than 10% of students.

Full text of SOPPA

For a list of the district's signed agreements, please visit the IL Student Data Privacy Consortium website:
https://sdpc.a4l.org/district_listing.php?districtID=6021