A Kilauea parent of two Kapa‘a High School seniors wants Kaua‘i parents to be wary of two new laws that would allow the military and other organizations access to the private information about high school students. The No Child Left
A Kilauea parent of two Kapa‘a High School seniors wants Kaua‘i parents to be wary of two new laws that would allow the military and other organizations access to the private information about high school students.
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2002 require high school districts across the nation to provide military recruiters, upon request, the names of students, addresses and telephone numbers.
Gina Zapara of Kilauea said her concern is that the requirements imposed by the laws raise “serious privacy issues.
She recommended Kaua‘i parents sign what amounts to a waiver form and send it back to Kapa‘a, Kaua‘i and Waimea high schools by Sept. 8. The forms can be gotten at the high schools.
Zapara said her brother served in the military and that she “has nothing against the military. We have a great military. I am not worried about the service (getting the information).”
She is concerned that once the information is released to military recruiters, it will be available to other organizations and businesses as well. “Once the military has it, it will almost become a telemarketer’s number,” Zapara said.
Once private information about students is released, households on Kaua‘i, in Hawai‘i and throughout the nation will be deluged with inquires by telemarketers, Zapara said. She said the new laws will create privacy issues that “will affect all Americans.”
The issue has been raised by parents in Hawai‘i, Zapara said.
John Friedman, Kapa‘a High School PTSA president and community relations specialist for the Hawaii state PTSA, said he has not heard of many parents in the Kapa‘a area who have voiced concerns about the issue.
“It has been our experience that if students have been contacted by the recruiters, and students or parents didn’t want the student to be contacted, the military has been very cooperative, and has refrained from calling in the future,” Friedman said.
Parents on Kaua‘i and throughout the nation were initially concerned when the laws took effect, he said.
“But it has not proved to be a tremendous problem, in that the military is very respectful of individual family needs,” Friedman said. “This has been our experience nationwide.”
Kaua‘i parents wanting to protect the privacy of their high-school-age children can contact school officials and obtain a “non-disclosure directory information form (CHP 34-1),” fill it out and send it back to island high schools by Sept. 8.
According a handout given to Zapara’s sons by Kapa‘a High School officials, the school will keep a copy on file and will process the document.
The student’s file in a central data base maintained by the state Department of Education will be tagged so that information will not be released, according to a state Department of Education handout.
After the central computer student file is tagged, the Information Resource Management Branch of the Office of Information Technology Services will provide information on students who are not “opted out” to requesting military recruiters, the handout said.
The central computer file system currently cannot distinguish between listed and unlisted telephone numbers.
As a result, unlisted telephone numbers will be released unless the parent “opts out” of giving information to military recruiters, or indicates that the directory information is not to be released.
Students who don’t want private information released have to “opt out” annually at the beginning of the school year, according to the handout.
Contact the IRM Help Desk at 692-7290 for more information.
