HSLDA: PA School District Violates Homeschooler’s Privacy

We have previously written about our work defending homeschooling families in Pennsylvania from school districts that demand sensitive medical and immunization records. While the law in this area is grey, we can now point to a growing number of school districts that have backed down when HSLDA intervened on behalf of member families who refuse to provide this information.

So far not a single HSLDA member family has been brought to a hearing by a school district over their refusal to provide sensitive medical and immunization records. As always, we encourage member families to speak with our legal team prior to any contact with a school district on this issue.

Standing Firm

We take a strong stance on this issue for two reasons.

First, Pennsylvania law is unclear about whether homeschooling families must provide this information to school districts. HSLDA fully respects and supports families who decide to send such information to school districts in the absence of legal clarity. But we will also vigorously defend families who do not want to comply with these extralegal demands.

Second, we feel strongly that any medical records and health information that families do provide must be vigorously protected.

Unfortunately, that does not always happen.

Earlier this year, we were troubled to learn that a central Pennsylvania school district mishandled several homeschool students’ immunization and health records. (At this time, we are not publishing the name of this school district in order to protect the privacy of the families involved.)

This district had requested immunization and medical records in the past and kept this information on file. When a homeschooling family’s child graduated high school, the district sent the student’s entire cumulative file to the graduate. While this graduate was reviewing the file at home, the family discovered that it contained the immunization and health records of two other homeschool students, one who had recently graduated from high school, and one who was still a homeschool student.

The information was extensive: it included the names of the students, their full vaccine history, date of birth, home address, phone number, medical provider’s name, and the lot numbers of the vaccines they received.

Thankfully, the two other homeschool students were known to the family. The family who had inadvertently received this sensitive health information quickly notified the other students and returned the records to the school district.

This family’s swift and careful conduct protected the privacy of the other homeschool students, while illustrating the problem: the more student records school districts have, the greater the risk that sensitive and private health records will be wrongly disclosed.

Meager Federal Protection

Federal privacy laws also may not protect sensitive health records. Public schools are generally not covered entities under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”). And while the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”) may apply to the personally identifiable information in medical records, there are numerous reasons to be doubtful that the act provides meaningful protections to home education records.

The text of FERPA makes no mention of “homeschooling” or “home educated” students. FERPA has numerous exceptions. FERPA has no private right of action. And FERPA is rarely enforced by the US Department of Education’s Student Privacy Policy Office.

Indeed, one of the families affected by this breach filed FERPA and HIPAA complaints. They received a polite letter from the US Department of Health and Human Services (which enforces HIPAA) notifying them that the case was closed because HHS had no authority over the school district. And so far, the family has not received any response back from the US Department of Education (which enforces FERPA).

HSLDA sent this letter to the school district, as well as to the Pennsylvania Departments of Health and Education, and the Pennsylvania attorney general. We hope the school district will change its policies and procedures, and that the Pennsylvania government will enforce laws protecting the privacy of students.

Most importantly, we realize that this problem is due to the Pennsylvania Departments of Health and Education pressuring Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts to act as enforcers of immunization and health policy. We call on these departments to stop pressuring districts to collect immunization, health, and medical records from homeschooling families.

Until that happens, HSLDA will vigorously continue to defend HSLDA member families who decline to provide sensitive health information to their local school district.

CHAP Joins HSLDA in Standing for Homeschool Freedom

Finally, we want to include an important message of unity from our friends at CHAP:

The CHAP Board and the families that we serve are grateful for the work of HSLDA and particularly Will Estrada in protecting the rights of homeschoolers. Parents may choose to supply health and immunization records to school districts, however, this must not be construed to be a requirement under the laws of Pennsylvania. 

This is viewed as a gray area of the law, which should not be interpreted to diminish the liberty of our homeschooling families in favor of the state and the school district.

The CHAP Board continues to pray for and support the efforts of HSLDA to protect the rights of homeschooling families. Liberty is a valued gift granted to us by our Triune God.