President Donald Trump’s administration is demanding changes to how the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) keeps student records and conducts mental health screenings. The White House says current practices may violate federal law.
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education gave ISBE two weeks to change its current rules, both on how mental health screenings are carried out and on procedures for separating related records from students’ other educational files. “Students should not be compelled to disclose intimate information about themselves, including mental health data, without their parents’ knowledge and consent,” Frank Miller, director of the Student Privacy Policy Office at the federal Department of Education, said in a statement. “At the same time, parents should have access to key information about their child’s well-being, and schools should not conceal such data or separate it from the rest of the records,” he said.
ISBE officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. Beginning next school year, Illinois plans to introduce annual mental health screenings for students in grades 3–12 in its school districts. Federal authorities argue, however, that as currently worded, the rules may violate the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
The U.S. Department of Education argues that the screenings will “probe very personal information about a student’s emotional well-being, including depression, anxiety, trauma, suicidal thoughts or other psychological problems.” Federal authorities also noted that guidance from the state education agency, the Illinois State Board of Education, allows for opting out of the screenings but does not require parents to give written consent. In the White House’s view, that is “insufficient under the requirements for student assessments set out in the PPRA.”
The guidance also leaves the question of whether to include screening results in a student’s “official” records to discretion. In the view of federal officials, this could allow some schools to hide results from parents, which would potentially violate FERPA. This is not the first time the Trump administration has targeted ISBE. Last year, ISBE rejected a demand from the U.S. Department of Education to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
The Department of Education gave ISBE until Nov. 13 to change its rules in order to “avoid the need to take enforcement action,” which could result in, among other things, the loss of federal funding.
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Source: Polski.FM
