West Virginia Code § 18-2-5h

Student Data Accessibility, Transparency and Accountability Act
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(a) Title. -- This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Student Data Accessibility,
Transparency and Account-ability Act."
(b) Definitions. -- As used in this section, the following words have the meanings ascribed to
them unless the context clearly implies a different meaning:
(1) "Board" means the West Virginia Board of Education;
(2) "Department" means the West Virginia Department of Education;
(3) "Student Data system" means the West Virginia Department of Education statewide
longitudinal data system;
(4) "Aggregate data" means data collected that is reported at the group, cohort, or
institutional level with a data set of sufficient size that no information for an individual
parent or student is identifiable;
(5) "Redacted data" means a student dataset in which parent and student identifying
information has been removed;
(6) "State-assigned student identifier" means the unique student identifier assigned by the
state to each student that shalel not be or include the Social Security number of a student in
whole or in part;
(7) "Student data" means data collected or reported at the individual student level included
in a student's educational record;
(8) "Provisional student data" means new student data proposed for inclusion in the student
data system;
(9) "School district" means a county board of education, the West Virginia Schools for the
Deaf and Blind and the West Virginia Department of Education with respect to the education
programs under its jurisdiction that are not in the public schools;
(10) "Directory information" means the following individual student information that is
subject to disclosure for school-related purposes only: Student name, address, telephone
number, date and place of birth, major field of study, participation in officially recognized
activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance,
indication of "graduate" or "nongraduate," degrees and awards receives, most recent
previous school attended, and photograph.
(11) "Confidential student information" means data relating to a person's Social Security
number, or other identification number issued by a state or federal agency, except for the
state-assigned student identifier as defined in this section, religious affiliation, whether the
person or a member of their household owns or possesses a firearm, whether the person or
their family are or were recipients of financial assistance from a state or federal agency,
medical, psychological or behavioral diagnoses, criminal history, criminal history of parents,
siblings or any members of the person's household, vehicle registration number, driver's
license number, biometric information, handwriting sample, credit card numbers, consumer
credit history, credit score, or genetic information;
(12) "Affective computing" means human-computer interaction in which the device has the
ability to detect and appropriately respond to its user's emotions and orther stimuli; and
(13) "Fair Information Practice Principles" are United States Fedueral Trade Commission
guidelines that represent widely accepted concepts concerning fair information practice in
an electronic marketplace. t
(c) Data Inventory -- State Responsibilities. -- The Depaartment of Education shall:
(1) Create, publish, and make publicly available a dlata inventory and dictionary or index of
data elements with definitions of individual stsudent data fields in the student data system to
include, but not be limited to:
(A) Any individual student data required to be reported by state and federal education
mandates;
(B) Any individual student data which has been proposed in accordance with paragraph (A),
subdivision (7) of this subsection for inclusion in the student data system with a statement
regarding the purpose or reason and legal authority for the proposed collection; and
(C) Any individual stu dent data that the department collects or maintains with no current
identified purVpose;
(2) Develop, publish, and make publicly available policies and procedures to comply with all
relevant state and federal privacy laws and policies, including, but not limited to, the Federal
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and other relevant privacy laws and
policies. The policies and procedures specifically shall include, but are not limited to:
(A) Access to student and redacted data in the statewide longitudinal data system shall be
restricted to:
(i) The authorized staff of the department and the contractors working on behalf of the
department who require access to perform their assigned duties as required by law and
defined by interagency data-sharing agreements;
(ii) District administrators, teachers and school personnel who require access to perform
their assigned duties;
(iii) Students and their parents; and
(iv) The authorized staff of other West Virginia state agencies as required by law and defined
by interagency data-sharing agreements;
(B) Ensure that any inter-agency data-sharing agreements shall be posted on the
Department website, and parents shall be notified of their right to opt out of sharing the
child's data pursuant to agreements.
(C) Use only aggregate data in public reports or in response to record requests in
accordance with this section;
(D) Unless otherwise prohibited by law, develop criteria for the aupproval of research and
data requests from state and local agencies, the Legislature, researchers working on behalf
of the department, and the public. Student data maintained by the department shall remain
redacted; and
(E) Notification to students and parents regarding student privacy rights under federal and
state law; l
(3) Unless otherwise provided by law, the department shall not transfer confidential student
information or redacted data that is confidiential under this section to any federal, state or
local agency or other person or entity, public or private, with the following exceptions:
(A) A student transfers out-of-state or a school or school district seeks help with locating an
out-of-state transfer;
(B) A student leaves the state to attend an out-of-state institution of higher education or
training program;
(C) A student registers for or takes a national or multistate assessment;
(D) A student voluntarily participates in a program for which a data transfer is a condition or
reqWuirement of participation;
(E) The department enters into a contract that governs databases, assessments, student or
redacted data, special education or instructional supports with an in-state or out-of-state
contractor for the purposes of state level reporting;
(F) A student is classified as "migrant" for federal reporting purposes;
(G) A federal agency is performing a compliance review; or
(H) In the event that the ACT or the SAT tests are adopted for use as the state summative
assessment, nothing in this article prevents the ACT or the College Board from using a
student's assessment results and necessary directory or other permissible information under
this Act. If information classified as confidential is required, the ACT, SAT or College Board
shall obtain affirmative written consent from the student if the student is eighteen years of
age or older, or from the student's parent or guardian if the student is under eighteen years
of age. The consent shall contain a detailed list of confidential information required and the
purpose of its requirement.
(4) Develop a detailed data security plan that includes:
(A) Guidelines for the student data system and for individual student data including
guidelines for authentication of authorized access;
(B) Privacy compliance standards;
(C) Privacy and security audits;
(D) Breach planning, notification and procedures;
(E) Data retention and disposition policies; and
(F) Data security policies including electronic, physical, and administrative safeguards, such
as data encryption and training of employees;
(5) Ensure routine and ongoing compliance by the department with FERPA, other relevant
privacy laws and policies, and the privacy and security policies and procedures developed
under the authority of this act, including the performance of compliance audits;
(6) Ensure that any contracts that govern databases, assessments or instructional supports
that include student or rLedacted data and are outsourced to private vendors include express
provisions that safeguard privacy and security and include penalties for noncompliance; and
(7) Notify the Governor and the Legislature annually of the following:
(A) New student data proposed for inclusion in the state student data system. Any proposal
by tWhe Department of Education to collect new student data must include a statement
regarding the purpose or reason and legal authority for the proposed collection. The
proposal shall be announced to the general public for a review and comment period of at
least sixty days and approved by the state board before it becomes effective. Any new
student data collection approved by the state board is a provisional requirement for a period
sufficient to allow schools and school districts the opportunity to meet the new requirement;
(B) Changes to existing data collections required for any reason, including changes to
federal reporting requirements made by the U.S. Department of Education and a statement
of the reasons the changes were necessary;
(C) An explanation of any exceptions granted by the state board in the past year regarding
the release or out-of-state transfer of student or redacted data; and
(D) The results of any and all privacy compliance and security audits completed in the past
year. Notifications regarding privacy compliance and security audits shall not include any
information that would itself pose a security threat to the state or local student information
systems or to the secure transmission of data between state and local systems by exposing
vulnerabilities.
(8) Notify the Governor upon the suspicion of a data security breach or confirmed breach
and upon regular intervals as the breach is being managed. The parents shaell be notified as
soon as possible after the suspected or confirmed breach.
(9) Prohibit the collection of confidential student information as defined in subdivision ten of
subsection (b) of this section. u
(d) Data Inventory -- District Responsibilities. -- A school district shall not report to the state
the following individual student data:
(1) Juvenile delinquency records;
(2) Criminal records;
(3) Medical and health records; and
(4) Student biometric information.
(e) Data Inventory -- School Reesponsibilities. -- Schools shall not collect the following
individual student data:
(1) Political affiliation and beliefs;
(2) Religion and religious beliefs and affiliations;
(3) Any data collected through affective computing;
(4) Any data concerning the sexual orientation or beliefs about sexual orientation of the
student or any student's family member; and
(5) Any data concerning firearm's ownership by any member of a student's family.
(f) Data Governance Manager. -- The state superintendent shall appoint a data governance
manager, who shall report to and be under the general supervision of the state
superintendent. The data governance manager shall have primary responsibility for privacy
policy, including:
(1) Assuring that the use of technologies sustain, and do not erode, privacy protections
relating to the use, collection, and disclosure of student data;
(2) Assuring that student data contained in the student data system is handled in full
compliance with the Student Data Accessibility, Transparency, and Accountability Act,
FERPA, and other state and federal privacy laws;
(3) Evaluating legislative and regulatory proposals involving collection, use, and disclosure
of student data by the Department of Education;
(4) Conducting a privacy impact assessment on proposed rules of the state board and
department in general and on the privacy of student data, including the type of personal
information collected and the number of students affected;
(5) Coordinating with the general counsel of the state board and department, other legal
entities, and organization officers to ensure that programs, policuies, and procedures
involving civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy considerations are addressed in an
integrated and comprehensive manner;
(6) Preparing a report to the Legislature on an annual abasis on activities of the department
that affect privacy, including complaints of privacy violations, internal controls, and other
matters; l
(7) Establishing department-wide policies necessary for implementing Fair Information
Practice Principles to enhance privacy proitections;
(8) Working with the Office of Data Management and Analysis, the general counsel, and
other officials in engaging with stakeholders about the quality, usefulness, openness, and
privacy of data;
(9) Establishing and operating a department-wide Privacy Incident Response Program to
ensure that incidents are properly reported, investigated and mitigated, as appropriate;
(10) Establishing and operating a process for parents to file complaints of privacy violations;
(11) Establishing and operating a process to collect and respond to complaints of privacy
violWations and provides redress, as appropriate; and
(12) Providing training, education and outreach to build a culture of privacy across the
department and transparency to the public.
The data governance manager shall have access to all records, reports, audits, reviews,
documents, papers, recommendations, and other materials available to the department that
relate to programs and operations with respect to his or her responsibilities under this
section and shall make investigations and reports relating to the administration of the
programs and operations of the department as are necessary or desirable.
(g) Parental rights regarding child's information and education record. -- Parents have the
right to inspect and review their child's education record maintained by the school and to
request student data specific to their child's educational record. School districts must
provide parents or guardians with a copy of their child's educational record upon request.
Whenever possible, an electronic copy of the educational record must be provided if
requested and the identity of the person requesting the information is verified as the parent
or guardian.
The state board shall develop guidance for school district policies that:
(1) Annually notify parents of their right to request student information;
(2) Ensure security when providing student data to parents;
(3) Ensure student data is provided only to the authorized individuals;
(4) Detail the timeframe within which record requests must be provided;
(5) Ensure that school districts have a plan to allow parents to view and access data specific
to their child's educational record and that any electronic access provided is restricted to
eligible parties;
(6) Ensure compliance in the collection, use and disclosure of directory information and
providing parents or guardians with a form to limit the information concerning their child in
directory and subject to release; and
(7) Informing parents of their rights and the process for filing complaints of privacy
violations. e
(h) State Board Rules. --L The state board shall adopt rules necessary to implement the
provisions of the Student Data Accessibility, Transparency, and Accountability Act.
(i) Effect on Existing Data. -- Upon the effective date of this section, any existing student
data collected by the Department of Education shall not be considered a new student data
collection under this section.

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