autismsociety: Can the school district deny a parent from wanting to place a tracking device on their autistic child that is prone to wandering for safety reasons? Parent wants the child to wear it to school and the superintendent of the school district is refusing and stating that the use of it will violate privacy and prompt other parents to want to send electronic devices with their children to school.
Law enforcement agencies around the country have a program called Project Lifesaver. It is a free device managed through the 911 system that tracks a child or adult if they wander. It does not have a recording feature. You can go to their site and find an agency near you: https://projectlifesaver.org/
If ithe GPS device records realtime locations then it IS gathering PII if students are getting dropped at their residence.
The privacy issue is a red harring to protect the staff not the children.
BTW, all cellphones have listening capabilities if parents install patent monitoring apps.
Google Chrome has listening capabilities and data collection. If you ban one you have to ban all. Or it is discrimination.
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Why is anyone even telling the schools that their child has this life-saving device on? If they are worried about conversations being recorded, perhaps they should not be around children in the first place.
We didn’t tell the school, our son bent over and accidentally engaged the emergency call feature near teachers.
School denied my request for my son to use a tracking device. Child is pron to wandering and has no sense of danger. I do fear that he will get hurt or something even worse. School wrote back to me saying they were denying my request and they do not care if my son leave school. Once he leaves he is not their problem. Please help me!
If you have not contacted the central office administrators, I suggest you contact them. I would think that they would realize the district has an obligation and would be liable.
Just encountered this today with my ASD. New school. I want it for her long bus ride to & from school. She’s only 5yrs old. I’ve faith in her new school but not in bus drivers because i saw on the news that in that same area where her new school is. A bus driver snapped & slapped an Autistic little girl on the bus for crying. I just told the school Principle to turn it off when she gets to school & turn it hack on when she leaves & if she goes on field trips. I fought like crazy for her to get in this Autism Academy. I pray for her prior to going for Gods protection & trust God. Some of my friends children attend her new school & they have a high success rate. Thank God.
So what is the law on this issue? What are the rights as a parent or child? It’s not the the listen in device is being used to record audio, it’s just like have ears on your child. If I were visiting the school and heard conversation of course it’s hear say etc, but if I’m at my child’s ball games I can record the games!? I was handed a paper stating it’s state law that eavesdropping or such devices are a privacy issue and I had to sign an agreement or my child would be isolated. Needless to say she didn’t stay at school! HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!
Your state parent training and information center may be able to assist you. http://www.parentcenterhub.org/find-your-center
Wow Melissa ,I was just told the same thing yesterday at my son’s school! He’s 7 in the 2nd grade. They are not permitting him in the classroom with it.
I have put the angel sense on my child..and was told he wasn’t allowed to wear it the next day..we removed my son from that school because they couldn’t guarantee his safety..we tried a different school board and apparently they both have the same answer… my question….what do I do next?
To me, the issue is that the school must address a student’s needs. If there is a history of wandering the IEP team must develop a plan, and supports to deal with this.
Sad thing is they thought after 10 days of knowing him, that he is not considered to be a risk..
I just went through the same and obtaining a Dr note was sufficient for my sons school to comply. Still working on the listen in aspect but I guess I will have his speech teacher write a note and try that. As he can’t tell me how his day was. Good Luck hope it helps!
My son went missing from school just recently. They stopped the trains, had 10 sherrifs and the captain a search dog helicopter and everyone who was home with in a mile radius came out of their homes to search. Even the kids in the regular school gave up their recess and asked if they could help
It was the longest most agonizing 2 hours of my life. He’s 11 vocab of a 1 year old and absolutely no sense of danger.
I told my roomate I almost got anglesense a while back but could not afford it and really wish I had it.
News story says he hid in a van and locked all the doors. But in reality he loves going bye bye and I owned a van. So he climbed in thinking he would go bye bye. The child locks were on so he got stuck for 2 hours until the owner came out. . worst day of my life.
In California, “confidential communication” is defined as “any communication carried on in circumstances as may reasonably indicate that any party to the communication desires to be confined to the parties thereto, but excludes communications made in a public gathering or in any other circumstance in which the parties to the communication may reasonably expect that the communication may be overheard or recorded.”
California case law states that if a conversation is in a classroom with others present, then the Penal Code section would not apply because there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in a classroom setting
From a place of love, recording the classroom can improve our kids lives and their families lives. I long to understand how to teach and get through to my nonverbal kid and what better way than by watching the specialists interact w/ my kid every day. Generalizing teaching to the home, from the school is my main reason for wanting a recording device. They do not allow parents to volunteer in his public school classroom because they believe it disrupts/distracts our Autistic kids. He is only 6yr’s old and the classroom size is 6. If all the kids families, principal, and teacher consented to being recorded, wouldn’t we be able to record a classroom?
If a school has an issue with a parent of a special needs child of any kind wearing a tracker, what is the school hiding or protecting its staff for? If school staff is talking to another student or staff member about something confidential or sensitive than it should not be in a public area anyhow. My child cannot speak or communicate how his day went or the things that happened during the day – good or bad. A “normal” child can come home and alert the parent that a student or staff member had done something wrong. My child cannot do that and we can only rely on short notes about his day. If a school does not want to have a GPS tracker with a listen in feature in the school, then they should consider having cameras in the classroom with no audio.
I agree
Thank you ,very good perspective of things.
I’m not sure it’s about “hiding” as you put it. There are Federal laws regulating wiring taping and these laws trump (for lack of a better term) any state laws.
I could understand cameras as they are all over my school for various reasons.
I agree 100%
They absolutely cannot deny this if it is medically necessary and you have a child who is known to elope or wander. Our daughters school was very defensive when we first sent the device attached to the back of our daughters pants. Our daughters MD had written a letter stating it was medically necessary. Some children cannot tolerate wearing one of the bracelet type so this type is necessary. The listening in option can be turned off, or there are other options that do not have the listening in. This is in no way is a privacy issue, if you are a parent volunteer who supervises recess, attends field trips,or volunteers in the classroom you hear and see everything that goes on.The more defensive a school is, the more of a red flag it is in my perspective.
Is there a reference I can cite to my school that they cannot deny it? I haVe a letter from my MD and they said they don’t have to allow my AngelSense device if they don’t want to. Do they have the right to know what device I even have?
I need help on this as well, I was told I had to sign an agreement saying it would be turned of during school hours!
I need help and answers on this as well!
So, you’d have to disclose that your child has a tracking device on their body??
Does the school also not allow any tablets or cell phones? They have GPS locating stuff on them, there’s are apps that allow family tracking, finding iPhones, etc. Doubt their school has a band on that, so they have no ground to stand on with their reasoning.
Cell phones and devices are restricted and should not be compared to this GPS. Students who are caught with cell phones out during class have them taken away. Teachers arent trying to ” hide” anything by denying the request to allow listen in features in the classroom. Have you thought about the fact that some classrooms have students who are verbal that say and share things with their teachers that are not business of others? What they did over the weekend, what they want to do after school, that they are feeling sick or having a seizure. Classrooms should feel like safe places for ALL students and teachers. The desire and expectation of parents feeling a right to be listening in to a classroom at all times is inappropriate and not necessary if you have a great teacher who communicates.
With the School Dashboard, this should not be an issue as schools would have the ability to block “listen in” capabilities. One thing to consider (just to play devil’s advocate): what is to stop a child from telling whoever else what he or she ahs heard- if there is one thing I pound into my typical child’s head, is that if some one (anyone) tells her to keep a secret, she needs to tell one of her parents.
I think you missed the entire point. It’s because the teachers are not communicating or have proven to not be honest. My daughter went missing last year at school. Neither myself or the principal at the time were notified about this. In fact, it wasn’t until one teacher was frustrated with questions about another incident where I picked my daughter up with only a teacher on, when she spilled that my daughter is so problematic she went missing. I was shocked. How can they not inform the school or myself. It led me to question everything the teacher said about where they found her and how long. Since she couldn’t even remember when this happened.
This year my daughter has been communicating a bit better. I found out that a teacher called her dangerous to another teacher, and another refused to help her in the bathroom. I’m not a difficult person to deal with. But I don’t trust that they will communicate with me. Incident after incident and they have refused to get my daughter a child specific para. Now my daughter only runs away from one classroom. And my daughter said the teacher told her to run. Why should I not want to listen in. Or why would the school staff not want to. The principal last year was removed from her position because of the prior incident where she wasn’t informed about my daughter missing. No investigation was done. It’s simple NOT OK. AND if they want to limit the use of the features then they should be paying for it.
As every parent knows, the safety of their children is always their largest concern. Good thing the school which my daughter is attending has none of this restriction and by the way the GPS tracker im using right now for 7months already is Trackimo and i really works great.
It’s funny to me because Time Warner Cable lets you track the technician on the way to your house via GPS, but you have a kid who is a flight risk and the school won’t let you track him to keep him safe.
I would file due process and let the school district explain why they’re afraid you might use it to monitor what services are provided or what goes on in his classroom. What are they trying to hide?
Christine, unfortunately there are too many dishonest people out there. Schools are not hiding a thing, however, we do have an obligation to protect the students and families we service. It sounds like you have an ax to grind with public education.
John, I bellieve that Christine is a concerned parent. This has nothing to do with an ax to grind. Yes, there are a lot of dishonest people, however there are just as many abuse cases with public education too. If I have a means to protect my child than that is my priority.
20 miles away a non verbal 6yo girl was sexually abused and the teacher aid got 22 years when caught trying to distribute horrendous acts. I have every concern to demand I be allowed to participate in monitoring my 5yo non verbal daughters well being and proper educational care.
They knew he had a past and overlooked it so I highly doubt the schools districts ability to keep children safe. It’s their obligation to, too. Not just the other students all students especially those who need reliable and trusting oversight. Anything private should be discussed in private amongst students and teachers.
The privacy issues is the ability to remote activate sound/listening/recording and some have remote access video (AngelSense is one brand that has remote activation listening) those who prevailed had to sign a contract to not remotely activate the microphone in school. If there was an incident of elopement then the device obviously should be activated. There are onlinegroups telling parents to get these devices not for wandering children but to spy on classrooms! (Which ruins it for legitimate needs)
I don’t see how a GPS device creates a privacy issue. It’s not an audio/video recorder. Is the school district proposing an alternative, like a 1:1 aide? What about a smart watch?
Our school district is far from perfect, but they agreed to my son using a live scribe smart pen to record lectures and notes. I would try to market it as something that could makes their jobs easier. Maybe they fear you’ll use it against them?
It is a felony to record a conversation, the person listening, is not part of. Many medical issues are addressed in the classroom. This is a violation of HIPA. If the device can be disabled, not an issue. Nobody is hiding anything. OCR has field days with schools for violating students privacy rights. Don’t blame the schools, blame the system.
I have Angel Sense and I have been assured by the company that the audio is not recored. There is no felony. This is not a wire tap or bug. I am very familar with HIPAA and if your in a class room discussing medical conditions with other students present then your in violation. I have never been in a class room where medical history of students or teachers has been openly discussed with others present. If you are an educator then you and your school certainly have something to hide if these divices are not accepted.
@jason but their is nothing protecting the school will find away to take it out that’s what they’re doing with us Angel sense can disable it but nothing can protect us to keep it on with out breaking the law. I forget what law it is but they send me a letter straight from the distric.
We have students with medical emergency episodes in the classroom while other students are present and a medical code is called to the office. Info about students is discussed To get students help ASAP and classroom cleared if possible.
While medical emergency is going on, a student with An Angelsense may or may not be using the device to listen in. There is no way to monitor privacy violations unless a parent mentions an incident, which then becomes a firestorm which by law I must report.
Schools have to be concerned with not only HIPPA but FERPA. It is FERPA that that the device violates by allowing outsiders to listen in.
https://www.wrightslaw.com/blog/does-ferpa-guarantee-student-confidentiality-in-the-classroom/
FERPA regulates education records, nothing more.
The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal statute. The purposes of FERPA are twofold:
*to ensure that parents have access to their children’s educational records
*to protect the privacy rights of parents and children by limiting access to these records without parental consent
Read more about FERPA. https://www.wrightslaw.com/blog/tag/ferpa/
Use the search box on the blog or any Wrightslaw page to learn more about “FERPA,” “confidentiality,” “privacy,” “educational records”
If a parent is using the Angel Safe listen in feature, they very easily would be violating the rights of other students in the classroom. If a parent is listening in while a teacher is talking to another student about their behavior or how they performed on an assessment, that would be violating that student’s right of privacy, as the student, nor their parent, consented to the Angel Safe parent listening.
Secondly, in states that one party consent, the person using the listen in feature is not one of the people participating in the conversation. The act of “listen in” is far closer to wiretapping as it’s done without the student or the teacher’s knowledge.
Lastly, more of a concern, you nor anyone else, know whether or not the conversation that is being “listened in” on is or is not being recorded. You have no way of knowing if they are using a recording device in accompaniment to the Angel Safe device.
The GPS component is fine. The listen in is not.
Thank you, Jason! My point exactly!
I understand what you are saying, this system does not record (save) any conversation.
Kids with open lines on cell phones are able to do the same thing.
Not a felony. In my state as long as one person knows recording is going on then it’s ok. And it doesnt have to be the person being recorded
Wrong. HIPAA and FERPA does not apply to the schools. It is a listening in device not a recording device therefore it does not apply. It isnt wire tapping or bugging. It is not a hospital or medical facility.
You are incorrect, it actually varies state by state. It is not illegal in my state to record without the other person’s knowledge.
To the argument about a code being called for a student, isn’t that a stretch? It’s a public school, kids talk… nothing is actually private. You think students in that classroom don’t tell their parents what happens at school?
I’d sure like an explanation as to how the GPS device violates anyone’s privacy. Does it have any capability of doing anything other than reporting its location? Also, last I checked there is no expectation of privacy (for the students) on the campus.
I have a garden variety GPS for hiking that is sufficiently accurate to figure out which room it is in. So my guess is that you’d probably be able to figure out when the child is, or is not, leaving his/her classroom to get services from the SLP, OT, or similar. My school district always kept that information tightly controlled for obvious reasons, so they probably want to keep it out of the campus for that reason.