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Home My WebLink About2018-01-26-BRIDGE-min BRIDGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SCHOOL-BASED SITE COUNCIL 55 Middleby Road, Lexington, MA 02421 781-861-2510 JANUARY 26, 2018 MEETING MINUTES APPROVED MARCH 2, 2018 PRESENT: Lynnette Allen,Amelia Brower, Lucia Brower, Meg Colella,Jon Cunha, Kristen Gray,Allison Gullingsrud, Patricia Jacotin,Jennifer Judkins, Kimberly Hensle Lowrance, Ruth Litchfield, Huan Liu, Zeba McGibbon, Sejal Patel, Deirdre Schadler, Susan Sun, Melanie Tanionos, Shawn Wood, Huansheng Xu, and Mimmin Yang. ABSENT: Megan Brown, Erin Cerat,Amy Kvaal, Beth Murnaghan, and Debbie Side. MEETING SUMMARY: Meg Colella, Bridge Elementary School-Based Site Council Chair (SBC), led the meeting, which began at 8 AM in the Bridge Elementary School Library. Jennifer Judkins, Director of Digital Learning for Lexington Public Schools (LPS), presented on student data/technology safety and security. Ms.Judkins, a Google Certified Trainer, joined LPS last year. She passed out a handout to accompany her presentation (see Appendix A). Ms.Judkins explained that LPS collects a lot of student data—from addresses to medical records at the nurses' office. However, not all data is created equal, meaning that different data calls for different levels of oversight. For example: • Low level: Middle school students play an online game in class and submit their first names in order to enter the game. No identifying information is required to participate, so it's lower priority for the district and LPS does not enter into a contractual arrangement with the game developers. • High level: Student health data, contact information, assessment scores, etc. may be stored in a third-party software,which is accessed online by LPS staff and families, and therefore requires a contract between LPS and the software vendor. LPS looks very carefully at terms of service for software used by the district to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place. This allows LPS to take extra steps to protect student data. However, negotiating multiple contracts with software vendors can be time- consuming, so Ms.Judkins and her team are working with the Massachusetts Student Data Privacy Alliance to create consistency in contract language and requirements. It can be easier for companies and school districts to manage contractual obligations when they are working from a "common language contract," which allows districts in Massachusetts to see what others have already successfully negotiated. This expedites the contract process and helps ensure fair and consistent protections.A related goal for Ms.Judkins is to create 1 an online interface for parents to see what tools are being used by LPS and what privacy policies are being applied to each tool. A question was asked about the electronic tools used in classrooms. Ms.Judkins explained that teachers select their own tools and are not required to get those tools approved by the district.A listing of teacher resources will be coming soon,though, in order to make sure educators around LPS have access to the same information and digital strategies. Another question was raised about the location of student data. Ms.Judkins said that LPS is moving away from locally hosted data and into the cloud.When data is hosted onsite at LPS, LPS is exposed to equipment failure and related problems. It's also expensive to maintain the equipment. Moving to the cloud allows LPS to stay current with technology advances and gives staff access to the data no matter where they are located. This is most important for health data. Ms.Judkins addressed the safety of LPS student data. She said that the information is secure in the cloud. The biggest problem the technology team sees is user error, i.e., using unsecure passwords, clicking on "phishing" links, etc. She and her team respond quickly to any concerns, and they are looking into increasing the education staff receive about phishing so they are not vulnerable. (For example, staff should use different passwords for different accounts, no matter how good the password is; employ two-step verifications on their accounts; considering implementing a password manager/generator like Last Pass.) Ms.Judkins also reviewed the process of rolling out Google accounts to LPS students. Starting in fourth grade, students receive Gmail accounts through LPS, part of Google Apps for Education. These accounts and their associated data are owned by LPS and they are "walled off' from the outside world, meaning students, at first, have restricted access,with access increasing as they age. Their account stays with them throughout their years at LPS, and LPS releases additional tools to them as they grow up. LPS manages these accounts through a Google dashboard. Ms.Judkins said that the district recently went through a comprehensive audit of its dashboard, and the 84-page report that resulted indicated that LPS was doing well protecting data. It also offered some additional strategies for privacy and security. The Google platform is a powerful tool for writing, getting feedback from teachers, and collaborating. Students can log into their account from home to show family members their schoolwork. Additionally, students at Bridge attend Digital Citizenship classes, starting in grade one. These classes are held in their classrooms and at the library. Ms.Judkins shared the following resources with the SBC: • LPS Digital Citizenship Parent Resource Page 2 • CommonSense Media is a non-profit,well-respected resource for parents and teachers. Here are some of the top features for parents: o Media Reviews: Reviews of Apps,video games, TV shows including a summary, age rating, "What parents need to know," ratings for educational value, ease of use,violence, commercialism and more. o Cell Phone Parenting: Offers parents specific guidance by age including FAQs where you can view common questions posed by parents and even post your own as well as videos and articles to inform parents about o Family Media Contracts help parents to set realistic rules to strike a healthy balance for media use. o Privacy&Internet Safety includes guidance on parental controls, appropriate sharing and more. Parents can filter resources by age range to find "best fit" advice for their child. o Digital Citizenship resources from CommonSense are used heavily in our Lexington's Digital Citizenship Curriculum. • ConnectSafely is a non-profit dedicated to educating users about digital safety and privacy. • Parent Guides help to de-mystify commonly used apps like SnapChat, Roblox and more so parents can make informed decisions about the use of these for their kids. • Safety Tips &Advice including how we, as parents, can model online behavior and safety tips such as how to create strong passwords. • Kids In Mind is a website that offers in-depth reviews for parents of movies that are currently in theaters. The ratings are very detailed including information about sex/violence, language, and overall message to help parents decide if a movie is appropriate for their child. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 AM. NEXT MEETING: Future Bridge Site-Based Council meetings will be held March 2,April 27, and June 8 at 8 AM in the Bridge School Library. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Contact Meg Colella, Principal and Co-Chair (mcolella(a@lexingtonma.org) or Kimberly Hensle Lowrance, Parent Representative and Co-Chair (khensle@gmail.com), or visit https://Ips.lexingtonma.org/domain/481. 3 APPENDIX A Data Security Overview- Lexington Schools Technology Department Jennifer Judkins, Director of Digital Learning iiudkins@lexingtonma.org • Student Data Privacy o High priority systems: Aspen, Healthmaster (Aspen) vendors have signed Lexington Data Privacy contract vetted by LPS Lawyer and in line with MA laws surrounding data privacy o Lower priority: Web tools used by students, iPad apps. Reviewing privacy policies &terms of service o Goal of creating parent sign off for fall with lists of apps which are in use at schools that require parent notification accompanied by website with links to privacy policies to ensure transparency with families o Partnering with MA Student Data Privacy Alliance which has a common Data Privacy Contract shared among dozens of districts in MA • Overview of content filtering: (Barracuda Content Filter) o URL Filtering by content Category: Filter contains categories such as Pornography,Violence, hacking, chat sites,Weapons etc. o URL Filtering by doman: Customizable to restrict or allow certain sites. Example we block general games,but games for typing have been allowed by teacher request. o File type Blocking: Such as EXE. File o In general we have policies based on level, Elementary, Middle, and High, as each requires different access. Then we customize per school upon request. • Recent audit of Google Admin Console to ensure educational best practices are being followed. • Digital Citizenship Curriculum for all elementary students includes online safety 4