A school district in Tennessee is asking parents to sign a form agreeing not to monitor their children’s virtual classrooms over concerns that “non-student observers” could overhear confidential information.
The form, a copy of which was sent to the Tennessee Star, reads: “RCS strives to present these opportunities in a secure format that protects student privacy to the greatest extent possible, however, because these meetings will occur virtually RCS is limited in its ability to fully control certain factors such as non-student observers that may be present in the home of a student participating in the virtual meeting.”
The agreement goes on to “strongly discourage” “non-student observation of online meetings due to the potential of confidential information about a student being revealed,” and while it does not specifically say that parents may not be present while their child is participating in virtual instruction, it does say that a “violation of this agreement may result in RCS removing my child from the virtual meeting.”
The agreement, of course, raised parents’ interest, according to the Tennessee Star, particularly given that the agreement implied items of interest might be being discussed in classrooms without parents’ knowledge.
In an email to parents sent earlier this week, the Rutherford School District said that they’re taking parents’ concerns under advisement.
“We are aware of the concern that has been raised about this distance-learning letter that was sent to parents,” a spokesperson told the Star. “The intent was not to prevent parents from being involved with their children during distance learning, but it was intended to protect the academic privacy of other students in the classroom who are visible during certain virtual class sessions.”…
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