School Surveys

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School Surveys

• Jim Walsh
• Walsh, Anderson, Brown, Schulze Aldridge, P.C.

2
Fields v. Palmdale School District

• 427 F.3d (9th Cir. 2005)

3
Summary of Facts

• Survey given to elementary students that included
  questions about sexual topics.
• A parental consent letter was sent regarding the
  survey although it did not explicitly state that
  some questions involved sexual topics.
• Survey was conducted to gain information
  regarding psychological barriers to learning.

4
Parental Right to Control the Education and
Upbringing of Ones Children

• While parents may have a fundamental right to
  decide whether to send their child to a public
  school, they do not have a fundamental right to
  generally direct how a public school teaches
  their child.
• Therefore, the Court affirmed that the survey did
  not violate this parental right because the right
  does not extend beyond the threshold of the
  school door.

5
Right to Privacy with Respect to Intimate
Decisions

• Parents argument was that survey violated their
  right to make important decisions regarding when
  and how to expose their children to sexual
  matters.
• Court found that the survey did not interfere
  with the right of parents to make intimate
  decisions because making intimate decisions
  and controlling the states determination of
  information regarding intimate matters are two
  entirely different subjects.

6
Rational Basis Review

• The facilitation of the students ability to
  absorb the education the school provides is
  without question a legitimate educational
  objective.
• Given the broad aims of education and the
  states interest as parens patriae, there can be
  no question that the School Districts interests
  in effective education and the mental health of
  its students are legitimate ends.

7
C.N. v. Ridgewood Board of Education

• 430 F.3d 159 (3rd Cir. 2005)

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Summary of Facts

• School officials administered survey entitled
  Profiles of Student Life Attitudes and
  Behaviors regarding students drug and alcohol
  use, sexual activity, experience of physical
  violence, attempts at suicide, personal
  relationships, and views on matters of public
  interest.
• Survey was designed to be voluntary and
  anonymous.
• Parents were notified that the survey would be
  administered, that it was voluntary, and that it
  would be available for review.

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Disclosure of Personal Matters

• The right to avoid disclosure of personal
  matters is not absolute, however.
• While the privacy expectation is great, the
  privacy side of the balance is nonetheless
  lessened because disclosure of personal
  information occurred only in the aggregate and
  personal information was adequately safeguarded.

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Parental Right to Control the Education and
Upbringing of Ones Children

• A parent whose middle or high school age child
  is exposed to sensitive topics or information in
  a survey remains free to discuss these matters
  and to place them in the familys moral or
  religious context, or to supplement the
  information with more appropriate materials.
• Therefore, the surveys interference with
  parental decision-making authority did not result
  in a constitutional violation.

11
Direct Contradiction with 9th Circuit

• The Third Circuit explicitly stated that it was
  not holding that this right did not extend
  beyond the threshold of the school door.
• Instead it only held that on the facts
  presented, the parental decisions alleged to have
  been usurped by the School Defendants are not of
  comparable gravity to those protected under
  existing Supreme Court precedent.

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Implications for Texas Schools
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Texas Education Code 33.003

• The board of trustees of each school district
  shall adopt guidelines to ensure that written
  consent is obtained from the parent, legal
  guardian, or person entitled to enroll the
  student under Section 25.001(j) for the student
  to participate in those activities for which the
  district requires parental consent.

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Texas Education Code 33.004

• Each school shall obtain, and keep as part of the
  student's permanent record, written consent of
  the parent or legal guardian as required under
  Section 33.003. The consent form shall include
  specific information on the content of the
  program and the types of activities in which the
  student will be involved.
• (b) Each school, before implementing a
  comprehensive and developmental guidance and
  counseling program, shall annually conduct a
  preview of the program for parents and guardians.
  All materials, including curriculum to be used
  during the year, must be available for a parent
  or guardian to preview during school hours.
  Materials or curriculum not included in the
  materials available on the campus for preview may
  not be used.

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Practical Advice

• Notify parents before administering surveys to
  students.
• Include in the notification general topics to be
  covered by the survey.
• Give parents the ability to decide whether to
  allow their children to participate in the
  survey.
• Prevent private information regarding students
  from being released unless safeguards are in
  place (i.e. released in the aggregate with no way
  to tie individual students to their responses).