Senate Bill 2737

AN ACT TO PROHIBIT THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION OR ANY LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT FROM EXPENDING ANY FUNDS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ANY STATEWIDE LONGITUDINAL DATA SYSTEM (SLDS) TO TRACK STUDENTS BEYOND K-12 OR FROM RELEASING ANY PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE STUDENT OR EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION TO AN OUTSIDE ENTITY; TO REPEAL SECTIONS 37-154-1 AND 37-154-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A STATE LONGITUDINAL DATA SYSTEM (SLDS) AND ESTABLISH A MULTIAGENCY DATABASE TO TRACK EDUCATION AND STUDENT OUTCOMES IN THE WORKFORCE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) On and after July 1, 2014, neither the State Board of Education, the State Department of Education, nor any other local school district shall:

(a) Expend any funds on implementation, construction, enhancement or expansion of any statewide longitudinal data system designed to track students beyond their K-12 careers, or to compile their personal, nonacademic information beyond what is necessary either for administrative functions directly related to the student's education, for evaluation of academic programs and student progress, or for compliance with the requirements of the United States Department of Education as outlined in paragraph (e) of this subsection;

(b) Share any personally identifiable information compiled on students or teachers with any entity outside the State of Mississippi, except as provided in this section; provided, however, that this shall not include hard data storage located in safe locations outside the state, or cloud data storage as long as the cloud computing provider agrees in writing that it will not redisclose such information or use the information for any secondary purposes that benefit the provider or any third party, including, but not limited to, online behavioral advertising, creating or correcting an individual or household profile primarily for the provider's benefit, the sale of data for any commercial purpose, or any other commercial for-profit activity;

(c) Share any personally identifiable information about any student or teacher with any entity that intends to use that information for development of commercial products or services or that intends to transfer that data to any other entity for use in development of commercial products or services;

(d) Share any personally identifiable information about any student or teacher with any entity inside the State of Mississippi unless that entity is an education agency or institution that does not intend to:

(i) Use the data to develop commercial products or services;

(ii) Transfer the data to any other entity to use in development of commercial products or services; or

(iii) Use the data or transfer the data for economic or workforce development planning; or

(e) Share any personally identifiable information on students and teachers with the United States Department of Education unless:

(i) Such sharing is required by the United States Department of Education as a condition of receiving a federal education grant;

(ii) The United States Department of Education agrees in writing to use the data only to evaluate the program or programs funded by the grant;

(iii) The United States Department of Education agrees in writing that the data will not be used for any research beyond that related to evaluation of the program or programs funded by the grant, unless the parent or guardian of any student, and any teacher, whose data will be used for such research affirmatively consents in writing to that use;

(iv) The United States Department of Education agrees in writing to destroy the data upon completion of the evaluation of the program or programs for which the data were compiled; and

(v) The grant or program in connection with which the data are required is one authorized by federal statute or by federal rule properly promulgated under the federal Administrative Procedure Act, 5 USC Section 500 et seq.

(2) If the United States Department of Education requires, as a condition of making a federal education grant that the grant recipient shares student or teacher data under circumstances that do not comply with paragraph (e) of subparagraph (v) of subsection (1), the grant recipient shall provide written notification to the parents or guardians of every student whose data will be shared or every teacher whose data will be shared of the following:

(a) That the grant recipient has been required to turn over the student's or teacher's data to the United States Department of Education;

(b) That neither the grant recipient nor any other entity within the State of Mississippi will have control over the use or further sharing of that data; and

(c) The contact information, including telephone number and e-mail address, of the United States Department of Education official who demands the data.

(3) No state or national student assessment shall be adopted or administered in this state that collects any type of psychological data, including assessment of noncognitive skills or attributes, psychological resources, mindsets, learning strategies, effortful control, attitudes, dispositions, social skills, or other interpersonal or intrapersonal resources.

SECTION 2. Sections 37-154-1 and 37-143-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, which provide for the development of a State Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) and establish a multiagency database to track education and student outcomes in the workforce, are hereby repealed.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2014.