Parent's Rights and responsibilities
Texas EDUCATION CODE CHAPTER 26. Defines Your PARENTAL Rights Over your child's education
These are excerpts. This is not the complete Chapter. For Access to Complete Chapter: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/pdf/ED.26.pdf
Sec. 26.001. PURPOSE. (a) Parents are partners with educators, administrators, and school district boards of trustees in their children’s education. Parents shall be encouraged to actively participate in creating and implementing educational programs for their children.
(b) The rights listed in this chapter are not exclusive. This chapter does not limit a parent’s rights under other law.
(c) Unless otherwise provided by law, a board of trustees, administrator, educator, or other person may not limit parental rights.
(d) Each board of trustees shall provide for procedures to consider complaints that a parent’s right has been denied.
(e) Each board of trustees shall cooperate in the establishment of ongoing operations of at least one parent-teacher organization at each school in the district to promote parental involvement in school activities. This is not new it goes back to 1995.
Sec. 26.004. ACCESS TO STUDENT RECORDS. (a) In this section, "intervention strategy" means a strategy in a multi-tiered system of supports that is above the level of intervention generally used in that system with all children. The term includes response to intervention and other early intervening strategies.
(b) A parent is entitled to access to all written records of a school district concerning the parent’s child, including:
(1)attendance records;
(2)test scores;
(3)grades;
(4)disciplinary records;
(5)counseling records;
(6)psychological records;
(7)applications for admission;
(8)health and immunization information;
(9)teacher and school counselor evaluations;
(10)reports of behavioral patterns;
(11)records relating to assistance provided for 4 learning difficulties, including information collected regarding any intervention strategies used with the child. Sec. 26.005. ACCESS TO STATE ASSESSMENTS. Except as provided by Section 39.023(e), a parent is entitled to access to a copy of each state assessment instrument administered under Section 39.023 to the parent’s child.
Sec. 26.006. ACCESS TO TEACHING MATERIALS. (a) A parent is entitled to:
(1) review all teaching materials, instructional materials, and other teaching aids used in the classroom of the parent ’s child, including while the child is participating in virtual or remote learning;
(2) review each test administered to the parent ’s child after the test is administered;
(3) observe virtual instruction while the parent ’s child is participating in virtual or remote learning to the same extent the parent would be entitled to observe in-person instruction of the child.
(b) A school district shall make teaching materials and tests readily available for review by parents. The district may specify reasonable hours for review.
(c) A student’s parent is entitled to request that the school district or open-enrollment charter school the student attends allow the student to take home any instructional materials used by the student. Subject to the availability of the instructional materials, the district or school shall honor the 5 request. A student who takes home instructional materials must return the instructional materials to school at the beginning of the next school day if requested to do so by the student’s teacher. A school district or open-enrollment charter school must provide the instructional materials to the student in printed format if the student does not have reliable access to technology at the student’s home. In this subsection, "instructional material" has the meaning assigned by Section 31.002. (d) The requirement under Subsection (c) to provide to a student instructional materials in a printed format does not require a school district or open-enrollment charter school to purchase printed copies of instructional materials that the district or school otherwise would not purchase. A district or school may comply with Subsection (c) by providing the student a printout of the relevant electronic instructional materials.
(e)Each school district and open-enrollment charter school that uses a learning management system or any online learning portal to assign, distribute, present, or make available instructional materials as defined by Section 31.002 to students shall provide login credentials to the system or portal to each student ’s parent.
Sec.A26.008.RIGHT TO FULL INFORMATION CONCERNING STUDENT. (a) A parent is entitled to full information regarding the school activities of a parent’s child except as provided by Section 38.004.
(b) An attempt by any school district employee to encourage or coerce a child to withhold information from the child’s parent is grounds for discipline under Section 21.104, 21.156, or 21.211, as applicable.
Sec. 26.010.EXEMPTION FROM INSTRUCTION.
(a) A parent is entitled to remove the parent’s child temporarily from a class or other school activity that conflicts with the parent’s religious or moral beliefs if the parent presents or delivers to the teacher of the parent ’s child a written statement authorizing the removal of the child from the class or other school activity. A parent is not entitled to remove the parent’s child from a class or other school 12 activity to avoid a test or to prevent the child from taking a subject for an entire semester.
(b)This section does not exempt a child from satisfying grade level or graduation requirements in a manner acceptable to the school district and the agency. Sec. 26.011. COMPLAINTS. (a)The board of trustees of each school district shall adopt a grievance procedure under which the board shall address each complaint that the board receives concerning violation of a right guaranteed by this chapter.
(b) does not require such for extracurricular activities.
How to view your child’s Schoology (the textbook equivalent)
Go to CFSID.net and click on “Academics” > “Resources” > “Home Access Center” > “Parent Portal Login” & call the help desk: 281-897-4357 if you don’t know your username & password.
- Once logged in, click on the “Home Access Center” icon & it will take you to screen where there are tabs, click on the “School Links” tab. Once on the “School Links” tab, click on “Schoology Parent Code”.
- Where it states, “Parent Code”, copy the 12-digit code of uppercase letters and numbers. This will be used next.
- Go to schoology.com, and click on “Sign up” then “Parent”. The first prompt asks for the parent code collected in step 3. Then, create the parent account.
- Once the account is created, click on the parent name that appears on the top right of the screen. A dropdown menu appears when you click the parent name and you can toggle to see your child’s name. If you have multiple kids and you don’t see all of them, call the help desk (this is an issue they have been working on, they can get you another set of parent credentials to view other children separately).
- Click on the word “courses” on the top left of the screen and the student’s lessons appear by subject.
- Call the help desk if you need any help 281-897-4357.
Should This be part of Your Child's Curriculum? Part 1
Programs with Nice Sounding Names May Not be so Nice
A very concerned mom and a very concerned teacher researched what is behind this nationwide Critical Race Theory and its many versions.
The broadest based of these is the "No Place For Hate". After first putting the program in place in the Cy-Fair School District, when these concerns were brought to the board the program was suspended. It was even alluded to that up to that point the District Superintendent had not truly vetted No Place For Hate. The video that first revealed the real agenda of this program was http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoBvzl-YZf4
Social Shaming to Divide Children - how? Children are being forced through conversations to feel their race is inferior whether white as oppressors or black, Hispanic or Oriental as oppressed and victimized. Neither view projects a positive path to people accepting people based on their character. https://www.adl.org/media/13168/download.
An incident at a school in which a child was reprimanded for actually trying to play a no place for hate lesson. When the mom wanted to understand the incident, all the assistant principal told her "it was a teachable moment". Nothing else was offered so the answers were found at https://adl.org/media/11925download (page 45).Children are made to sign a Hate Pledge where they promise to believe "no one is an innocent bystander" https://adl.org/media/11925download (page 15). There are still other platforms like "Character Stong" that are also deflected by the school district.
Bully Scenarios Lack Diversity and Evoke Fear - the No Place for Hate curriculum was analyzed from 9 school, 32 out of 32 the bully was white: 4 violent and 4 murderous. Genocide is referred to frequently in the curriculum with the pyramid of hated https://www.adl.org/media/11295/download (page 19).
At least 95 percent of students must sign a “pledge” for a school to get the NPFH designation. The parents are told it’s voluntary, but some teachers are directed to repeatedly ask students who haven’t signed the pledge to do so. In fact a former teacher was told 100% compliance was “mandatory”. The principal would even come by to stand over the students, who were hesitant. Questions by the students themselves as to what exactly they were signing were NOT encouraged. The pledge itself is good, extolling shared virtues. To view pledge please go to No Place for Hate website.https://www.noplaceforhate.org/the-program
Is it necessary for kids to be basically forced to sign the pledge to be seen as kind, respectful, and rejecting hate? This signature gets stored somewhere. Where? And for what purpose?
Parent's Options on District's Issued Technology
Can a Chrome Book or other District Issued Device be Turned Back to District?
Why should a parent be concerned about school district issued laptops?
1. The content is not as readily available as an issued textbook.
2. While school districts do take their role to make these laptops safe and
secure even a school superintendent admitted that the students know
ways around these safeguards and then share these dark web work arounds
during school hours.
3. Platforms such as "BrainPop" "No Place for Hate" and others have embedded
pop-up surveys. There are serious issues as to who, what, when where and
how the information collected on your child is used. See next section
"Is Your Child Being Data-mined?"
Steps to return your child's laptop:
1. The school district cannot force the device on you. Parents have the
prerogative to return the device. It will be up to the district to accommodate
your child's learning needs.
2. Let your student's teacher and principal know you will be returning
your school issued laptop. The more forewarning you can give the better the
transition will be for your child.
3. Once you have turned in the device, there will be ongoing coordination with
your child's teacher to insure your child is able to complete the lesson plan
outside the scope of the laptop.
4. Even if a parent does demand and have their child's chrome book turned back
in, the principal or teacher could circumvent the parent's wishes and just
make it available to the child in the classroom. While still quite right by the
school district, it may save your child the back strain of carrying the
computer.
Is your child being data mined?
In a meeting with the CY-Fair Chief-of-Staff, the ACT in Action team presented that on some of the platforms survey were popping up to the child during an interactive session. The issue was specifically presented at a meeting with the CyFair Information Technology Department. While everyone on the team was impressed with the attitude and sincerity of the IT staff of Cy-Fair, this issue seemed to catch them off guard. The response was that is part of the platform. That being said it means these questions are not sourced nor vetted by the teacher, the school nor the school district. This began a series of questions, but as there is so much across the board standardization of Texas curricula, policies and procedures parents throughout Texas with students enrolled in Texas public education facilities should be aware.
We have accumulated the following questions parents should be asking of their school boards:
- What platforms are embedding these survey questions?
- What is the purpose?
- Is there a school or learning purpose?
- Are these politically charged questions?
- What questions are being presented in these surveys?
- Are the questions geared to derive a specific response?
- Are they oriented to how to think or what to think?
- WHO specifically owns this information?
- Where are these answers going?
- Who tabulates the results?
- The answers are tied to individual children, what long-term potential use do they have?
- Is there money being exchanged for our students data?
- If so is the school district getting part of those proceeds?
- Are or will parents be notified of the potential for these surveys?
- Is there any ability to “opt out”?
Parents, Be Aware of These Privacy Issues
Over the course of events, school books have been replaced with electronic devices tablets and laptops. There are considerations of this transition that parents should be made aware. ACT in Action is trying to work with Cy-Fair School District and others to see how to strike the balance of utilizing these new technologies and parents having the access parents always had when text books were available to be opened, viewed and discussed with their children.
Some of the issues of these modern tools are similar to all the new technology we deal with, privacy, security and unwarranted access into our lives. To that end these devices “chrome books’ are not as secure as families may want and people should be aware of these vulnerabilities.
1. If your child is working on joint projects with other students, the meeting is minimized, school administration may still collect information from the electronic device. Even if the device is not an official electronic device issued from the school district. A session on a parent’s computer or cellphone. A parent accessing stock trading database or bank account can be collected by the school district. While it is the obvious responsibility of the user whether minor child or a guardian, ask your school district why they do not have a timeout function set to alleviate the potential for security breach?
2. Some school districts do store data in prescribed secure facilities for appropriate back up in the event of a catastrophic failure. A big issue is where and how the data is stored, how long the data is stored and on what server bank it is stored? Is your district part of the Consortium of School Networking? Does your school district have signed Data Privacy Agreements with the third party source providers?
3. Parents have the right to request their school district’s Security Information and policies to secure their children’s information and cyber education activity.
4. During the home sessions occurring during the Covid lockdowns, serious security breaches were uncovered. If your child does have home sessions for weather days or other incidents, These security exposure issues have not been addressed. While in an active session, the camera can clearly view the background behind the student. This has led to some interesting actions as some teachers have taken it on themselves to question the home environment because of what they saw. The remedy is to insure the background of your student’s session is a blank wall or screen.