Seattle Schools Changes That Affect Student Privacy

As I have stated, I am gradually ending coverage of Seattle Schools stories unless they pertain to a national public education story or are part of a bigger issue like student data privacy.

From SPS Communications a story on the Naviance college/career system:
Parent guardians, non-parent guardians, and students who are 18 years or older may document their decision to use or not use Naviance in the Source.
Opt-Out Windows for 2019-2020 Grades 6-12
Parent guardians, non-parent guardians, and students who are 18 years or older may document their decision to use or not use Naviance in the Source starting on Monday, August 12, 2019 through Friday, September 20, 2019.

During this 6-week period, to opt your student out:
  1. Log into the Source
  2. Choose "Preferences"
  3. Under "Application Preferences" click on Naviance to display the online form
  4. Document your decision and click "Submit." You will receive an email confirmation for your records
If you need a way to opt out other than through the Source, please call 206-743-3600 and leave a voice message or email naviance@seattleschools.org and we will provide an alternate accommodation for you. 
 
Read about how to set up a Source account.

What happens if a family misses the opt-out window?
If a family misses this window, please call 206-743-3600 and leave a voice message or email naviance@seattleschools.org and we will provide an alternate accommodation for you. Families will be notified in advance to minimize missing the window.

Parent/Guardian Access to Naviance
Access for parents and guardians is planned for Fall 2019. Access is view-only plus the ability to add colleges to your student’s prospective college list. 

Note: Having a valid user account for the Source, the district’s parent portal, is a prerequisite to obtaining a Naviance parent guardian user account.
Also from SPS Communications regarding student usernames and email accounts:

New Student Usernames for All Students
What’s New? The first four characters of student username will be replaced with a 1. For example: the old username is xyz_jssmith the new username is 1jssmith. 

Students, if you would like to verify your new username, you may log in to The Source between August 13 and September 14. Once you enter the old username, the new username will display. Please contact your teacher or librarian if you are having any trouble accessing your new username.
Password Change for incoming 5th and 6th Graders
Starting this fall, every incoming 5th grader will be required to change their password from the four digit format of MMDD to an eight character password. For this year only, every incoming 6th grader will also follow this process. 

When students log in for the first time, they will use their full birthday: MMDDYYYY. After logging in, they will be prompted to select a new password. The new password may include special characters, can be eight or more characters, but cannot be a password the student used previously. 

Students, please contact your teacher or librarian if you experience any issues setting up your new password. 

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