North Canton City Schools

Student data privacy means protecting your child’s personal information that is collected, stored, and used by schools, educational apps, and technology tools. This includes things like their name, age, grades, attendance, behavior, and even how they use online learning platforms.

There are several laws regarding student data privacy.

At North Canton City Schools, we take student data privacy seriously. We follow strict laws and best practices to make sure your child’s information is kept safe, used responsibly, and shared only when necessary to support learning.

In accordance with Ohio SB29, we have reviewed the digital resources used with students in our classrooms and have secured student data privacy agreements with approved vendors.  That list of vendors can be seen on the Student Data Privacy Consortium website.  

What is Ohio’s Senate Bill 29?

The bill was signed into law by Governor Dewine on October 24, 2024, and is focused on strengthening student data privacy protections within Ohio schools. It places new requirements on school districts regarding how they handle student data, especially when using technology and third-party providers. The bill emphasizes transparency with parents, limits on device monitoring, and stricter data security standards for vendors.

With the enactment of this law, student data privacy has never been more protected.  While technology has been used in our classrooms with students for decades, there were no specific guardrails around data privacy or training on how to protect student information in a digital age.  NCCS has been working for the past three years on protecting data privacy, so we welcomed the challenge of implementing the provisions in place now.  

What steps have been taken over the past year?

NCCS had already established an account in the national Student Data Privacy Consortium (SDPC) Resource Registry to track Student Data Privacy Agreements (DPAs).  After the updated Ohio language was released in October of 2024, new agreements with updated Ohio language were secured in the Registry.  Digital resources were identified with teacher input, as well as the ability to cross-check those with a new platform called Digital Insights (DI).  DI allowed us to see all of the digital resources being used on our devices.  

We have been working from a list of 250 digital resources and tracking their progress as far as obtaining an updated student data privacy agreement.  Once the vendor signs, we then enter that into the Registry and that list is posted and available for families to see on this new student data privacy page.  During the months of June and July of 2025, the list of digital resources was reviewed and, vendors who declined to sign an updated DPA were added to the registry and marked as “Not Approved.”  

After reviewing the list of resources that either vendor declined to sign a student data privacy agreement for or they were in the process but had not signed or declined yet, it was determined that there were a few resources that were viewed as critically important to education in our classrooms.  The law then requires parent consent for those resources to be used.  A template created by lawyers and provided by the state-wide EdTech Leaders Alliance group was added to FinalForms for each of those resources.  

What digital resources had parent consent forms in Final Forms and why were they selected?

AutoDesk - This resource is used in our Project Lead the Way (PLTW) courses at the middle and high schools.  This is an industry-standard software that is used in engineering and is part of the PLTW curriculum.   The vendor has not declined to sign the DPA, but is still in the middle of the process, and we anticipate having a signed DPA in the future.

Adobe - This resource is used in our high school courses that require design software like Interactive Media, Yearbook, Journalism, Video Productions, and business courses.  This is an industry-standard software that is part of the curriculum of those courses. We have a Creative Cloud Pro license specifically for a K-12 environment that meets COPPA guidelines.  The students do not have access to the Cloud and the software is installed on a lab computer that is only accessible in that classroom.  The vendor has not declined to sign the DPA, but is still in the middle of the process, and we anticipate having a signed DPA in the future.   

Cengage - This textbook resource is used in our high school Advanced Placement (AP) courses in US History, Psychology, and Calculus courses as their online curriculum.  These are college level courses where the students are able to earn college credit, and the content is determined by the College Board so that it aligns with the content that is in these courses at the college level.  The vendor has not declined to sign the DPA, but is still in the middle of the process, and we anticipate having a signed DPA in the future. Because the district anticipates having a signed DPA in the future, the district will seek parent consent from the parents of students who are enrolled in these three AP courses.  If parents do not wish to have their child use the Cengage textbook, they have the option to either take the regular level (non-AP) Hoover High School course for the corresponding subject or take the AP course for the corresponding subject from an online provider (there will be an online course fee). 

College Board - This is the organization that administers high school Advanced Placement (AP) course testing which gives high school students the opportunity to earn college credit while in high school. The vendor has not declined to sign the DPA, but is still in the middle of the process, and we anticipate having a signed DPA in the future. Because the district anticipates having a signed DPA in the future, the district will seek parent consent from the parents of students who are enrolled in AP courses.  If a signed DPA is not in place in time for the AP Exams, parents will have the option of their student not taking the AP Exam in May while still having the student be enrolled in the course for the entire school year and still having the opportunity to earn high school credit but not college credit.  

HUDL - This resource is used with high school athletes who are attempting to continue in their sport(s) at the collegiate level.  The vendor has declined to sign a DPA because the platform allows users to upload videos for recruitment purposes. The fact that coaches and athletes have the ability to upload content makes it difficult for that vendor to meet all of the data privacy requirements so parent permission is required for use.  It is not mandatory that HUDL be used by high school athletes, so they and their parents can choose not to use this resource if they wish.

Has anything changed from how my students interacted with technology previously?

No.  The only difference is that the law now requires the district to have signed student data privacy agreements on file or have parent permission to continue using the digital resources.  The vendors that are listed above (AutoDesk, Adobe, Cengage, and College Board) for which the district is asking for parent permission have not declined to sign a student data privacy agreement…they are still in the process of reviewing, and we anticipate having a signed DPA in the future. We are asking for parent consent because school has started, and we are beyond the August 1st deadline which requires such action.  

Are students safer now than they were in the past?

Yes.  Before the student data privacy agreements existed, districts did not have a good way to manage all of the digital resources that were being used in our classrooms.  Now we have a mechanism for assessing the privacy and security of resources and identifying apps that do not protect student privacy.  An example is an app called Quizlet.  After discovering that there were inappropriate ads on the platform, the district blocked the app from use with students.  The company declined to sign the data privacy agreement and also declined to guarantee that they would not allow inappropriate ads.  You will see Quizlet listed as “Not Approved” in our Registry.