BY MATT LINDSEY
North Country This Week

NORWOOD -- Norwood-Norfolk Central School, like all other local schools, has been tasked with protecting student information.

All the districts in the state are at about the same place in getting Ed Law 2d compliant, according to NNCS Superintendent Jamie Cruikshank.

“This is a huge endeavor which will change how we all conduct our business,” he said.

Most districts in the North Country, including NNCS, contract with SLL BOCES to operate technology and computer systems

“Currently, we are getting the necessary policies in place to go before the Board of Education in the near future,” Cruikshank said.

This past summer NNCS conducted a survey of its School Tool student management system, with the support from Northeastern Regional Information Center (NERIC).

“We addressed security concerns and re-formatted our permissions. This was a large and onerous task. Most of the systems we utilize are not that large in scope, but we'll need to revisit our contacts with each entity we work with to ensure their compliance with Ed Law 2d, too,” he said.

Each school district appoints a data protection officer who handles policies and procedures, and is the point of contact for data security and privacy. Cruikshank will fill that role.

Schools are required to post a Parents’ Bill of Rights for Data Privacy and Security. This can be found at www.nncsk12.org/Page/141.

“We're still learning about Ed Law 2d as regulations are slow to come out from SED,” the state Education Department, Cruikshank said. “With the support from SLL BOCES I'm confident that we'll be compliant.”

The deadline for schools to be compliant is July 1.