Progress on Prince William County Public Schools Privacy Breach Concern

In July, some homeschooling families in Prince William County were shocked to get emails from SchoolStatus, a company in Ridgeland, Mississippi. The emails in question invited—or even required—their children to participate in a “student emotional well-being” survey.

This email raised immediate questions about whether Prince William County Public Schools (PWCS) had violated Virginia Code 22.1-254.1.G by giving SchoolStatus access to confidential information protected by law, including the names and email addresses of home instruction families. SchoolStatus’ main privacy statement and its terms of service page creates serious concerns regarding how the company might use or redistribute legally protected information it obtained from PWCS.

Home Educators Association of Virginia (HEAV) contacted PWCS about this problem and received a response which was polite, but which failed to address many important issues. HEAV then notified HSLDA of the situation.

Further Action

In a letter to the district and a subsequent conversation with the attorney representing PWCS, I asked for specific corrective actions. On August 22, the PWCS attorney wrote back and asserted that PWCS had not violated the law (he also offered no apology).

On the other hand, PWCS agreed to each item of corrective action I had requested. Here’s what they said:

“PWCS has already taken steps to address your organization’s concerns. Specifically, PWCS will no longer be sending bulk emails like the one that went out on July 18, 2024, to homeschooling families using SchoolStatus. In addition, PWCS will notify SchoolStatus in writing that they should delete any residual data they may possess pertaining to these families and provide us with confirmation once that has been done. I will provide you with a copy of that confirmation when it is received.”

I appreciate the willingness of PWCS to take the corrective steps and look forward to receiving confirmation that SchoolStatus has deleted all information they obtained—especially the names and emails of homeschooling families.