"Release of Student Directory Information" form

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:By opting out you're saying that they have to contact you for each individual request before releasing your info -- so, if they want to add your name to the school directory handed out to students they will ask you before immediately adding your name. If you want to be "invited to birthday parties" then you'll just say yes to that particular request. But you're not giving blanketed permissions for them to give your information out to whoever they choose. This seems like the right decision to me.

In practice you will just be left out. They don’t actually come back to you each and every time.

[Anonymous]

At our school the PTA is not given access to this info. Creating the directory would be SO MUCH EASIER if we were!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At our school the PTA is not given access to this info. Creating the directory would be SO MUCH EASIER if we were!

Same here. How do other schools create directories? Does DCPS have any policy on this? Why don't some schools use this information for student directories when the form clearly says it's for student directories?

Ours is the first school we've been to that has no directory, no listserv, or anything else that families can use to contact each other. The other schools we've been to had apps, directories, mailing lists, but here the administration and teachers are so protective of contact information. Only room parents get contact information for the families in their class, and they have to swear to guard the list with their lives. When I mentioned that not having each other's contact information makes birthday parties, play dates, and carpooling difficult, the response was to send messages to the teacher for distribution to the class. As if they don't have enough to do. . .

[Anonymous]

At our DCPS school, parent emails are shared among parents who wish to share them on classes list servs. Addresses aren't shared like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our school the PTA is not given access to this info. Creating the directory would be SO MUCH EASIER if we were!

Same here. How do other schools create directories? Does DCPS have any policy on this? Why don't some schools use this information for student directories when the form clearly says it's for student directories?

Ours is the first school we've been to that has no directory, no listserv, or anything else that families can use to contact each other. The other schools we've been to had apps, directories, mailing lists, but here the administration and teachers are so protective of contact information. Only room parents get contact information for the families in their class, and they have to swear to guard the list with their lives. When I mentioned that not having each other's contact information makes birthday parties, play dates, and carpooling difficult, the response was to send messages to the teacher for distribution to the class. As if they don't have enough to do. . .

Charters do the same forms.

The school will give the names of all who gave permission for release to the PRO for the directory.
You can tell them to release nothing or agree to share all or limited info

Example options
1. your name and your child's Name only
2. Names + email
3. Name + email + phone
4. Name + email + home address + phone

And variations of the above

If you don’t give school permission to release, PTO has to gather on their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our school the PTA is not given access to this info. Creating the directory would be SO MUCH EASIER if we were!

Same here. How do other schools create directories? Does DCPS have any policy on this? Why don't some schools use this information for student directories when the form clearly says it's for student directories?

Ours is the first school we've been to that has no directory, no listserv, or anything else that families can use to contact each other. The other schools we've been to had apps, directories, mailing lists, but here the administration and teachers are so protective of contact information. Only room parents get contact information for the families in their class, and they have to swear to guard the list with their lives. When I mentioned that not having each other's contact information makes birthday parties, play dates, and carpooling difficult, the response was to send messages to the teacher for distribution to the class. As if they don't have enough to do. . .

Charters do the same forms.

The school will give the names of all who gave permission for release to the PRO for the directory.
You can tell them to release nothing or agree to share all or limited info

Example options
1. your name and your child's Name only
2. Names + email
3. Name + email + phone
4. Name + email + home address + phone

And variations of the above

If you don’t give school permission to release, PTO has to gather on their own.

This varies by school. My kids’ charter does not share this info with the PTO. Parents must opt in to the directory, which is organized by the PTO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our school the PTA is not given access to this info. Creating the directory would be SO MUCH EASIER if we were!

Same here. How do other schools create directories? Does DCPS have any policy on this? Why don't some schools use this information for student directories when the form clearly says it's for student directories?

Ours is the first school we've been to that has no directory, no listserv, or anything else that families can use to contact each other. The other schools we've been to had apps, directories, mailing lists, but here the administration and teachers are so protective of contact information. Only room parents get contact information for the families in their class, and they have to swear to guard the list with their lives. When I mentioned that not having each other's contact information makes birthday parties, play dates, and carpooling difficult, the response was to send messages to the teacher for distribution to the class. As if they don't have enough to do. . .

Charters do the same forms.

The school will give the names of all who gave permission for release to the PRO for the directory.
You can tell them to release nothing or agree to share all or limited info

Example options
1. your name and your child's Name only
2. Names + email
3. Name + email + phone
4. Name + email + home address + phone

And variations of the above

If you don’t give school permission to release, PTO has to gather on their own.

16:15 here. That's the thing - our school will neither (1) create a directory, listserv, etc., themselves, nor (2) provide the PTO with the contact information of families who have consented (i.e., have not opted out) so that the organization can do it. So annoying, especially since the form says explicitly that it's for the student directory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know what that is because our school directory is put out by the PTA not DCPS. We sign a separate release for that. DCPS isn’t compiling any directories for parents.

Glad you said it's PTA who did that. We don't remember signing anything for PTA and we are in the directory. Glad my DH didn't see the directory or he'd be livid. I'm going to have to e-mail PTA and tell them to not put us there. Seems to me that we probably should've had to sign something in order to opt out, not sign something to opt in.
Also, directory is where the unit numbers are that don't even exist but the kids go to IB school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do parents ever use the emails to advertise their own businesses, like real estate agents? Or do schools have rules against solicitation from other parents?

I've never seen that. At our school the PTA gives local business owners plenty of opportunity to get their name out through sponsorships which works well for all involved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our school the PTA is not given access to this info. Creating the directory would be SO MUCH EASIER if we were!

Same here. How do other schools create directories? Does DCPS have any policy on this? Why don't some schools use this information for student directories when the form clearly says it's for student directories?

Ours is the first school we've been to that has no directory, no listserv, or anything else that families can use to contact each other. The other schools we've been to had apps, directories, mailing lists, but here the administration and teachers are so protective of contact information. Only room parents get contact information for the families in their class, and they have to swear to guard the list with their lives. When I mentioned that not having each other's contact information makes birthday parties, play dates, and carpooling difficult, the response was to send messages to the teacher for distribution to the class. As if they don't have enough to do. . .

Charters do the same forms.

The school will give the names of all who gave permission for release to the PRO for the directory.
You can tell them to release nothing or agree to share all or limited info

Example options
1. your name and your child's Name only
2. Names + email
3. Name + email + phone
4. Name + email + home address + phone

And variations of the above

If you don’t give school permission to release, PTO has to gather on their own.

16:15 here. That's the thing - our school will neither (1) create a directory, listserv, etc., themselves, nor (2) provide the PTO with the contact information of families who have consented (i.e., have not opted out) so that the organization can do it. So annoying, especially since the form says explicitly that it's for the student directory.

That's very annoying. Is there an electronic newsletter that goes out? How does the school communicate with everyone? There are services where people can self sign up for a directory. The school should at least be encouraging that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know what that is because our school directory is put out by the PTA not DCPS. We sign a separate release for that. DCPS isn’t compiling any directories for parents.

Glad you said it's PTA who did that. We don't remember signing anything for PTA and we are in the directory. Glad my DH didn't see the directory or he'd be livid. I'm going to have to e-mail PTA and tell them to not put us there. Seems to me that we probably should've had to sign something in order to opt out, not sign something to opt in.
Also, directory is where the unit numbers are that don't even exist but the kids go to IB school.

The opt-out process that others described here sound very similar to our school. Maybe you didn't notice an opt-out option in your enrollment/re-enrollment forms?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our school the PTA is not given access to this info. Creating the directory would be SO MUCH EASIER if we were!

Same here. How do other schools create directories? Does DCPS have any policy on this? Why don't some schools use this information for student directories when the form clearly says it's for student directories?

Ours is the first school we've been to that has no directory, no listserv, or anything else that families can use to contact each other. The other schools we've been to had apps, directories, mailing lists, but here the administration and teachers are so protective of contact information. Only room parents get contact information for the families in their class, and they have to swear to guard the list with their lives. When I mentioned that not having each other's contact information makes birthday parties, play dates, and carpooling difficult, the response was to send messages to the teacher for distribution to the class. As if they don't have enough to do. . .

Because unless a parent or parent organization takes on this work (and it is a lot of work) the school administration does not have time. They are busy running the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our school the PTA is not given access to this info. Creating the directory would be SO MUCH EASIER if we were!

Same here. How do other schools create directories? Does DCPS have any policy on this? Why don't some schools use this information for student directories when the form clearly says it's for student directories?

Ours is the first school we've been to that has no directory, no listserv, or anything else that families can use to contact each other. The other schools we've been to had apps, directories, mailing lists, but here the administration and teachers are so protective of contact information. Only room parents get contact information for the families in their class, and they have to swear to guard the list with their lives. When I mentioned that not having each other's contact information makes birthday parties, play dates, and carpooling difficult, the response was to send messages to the teacher for distribution to the class. As if they don't have enough to do. . .

Because unless a parent or parent organization takes on this work (and it is a lot of work) the school administration does not have time. They are busy running the school.

Fair enough, which is why I've volunteered to do it, only to be told that they will not release the information for the purpose of a directory. The school doesn't exactly encourage communications among families, and there's such a culture of :bcc, which is annoying because everything is basically an announcement with no real dialogue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our school the PTA is not given access to this info. Creating the directory would be SO MUCH EASIER if we were!

Same here. How do other schools create directories? Does DCPS have any policy on this? Why don't some schools use this information for student directories when the form clearly says it's for student directories?

Ours is the first school we've been to that has no directory, no listserv, or anything else that families can use to contact each other. The other schools we've been to had apps, directories, mailing lists, but here the administration and teachers are so protective of contact information. Only room parents get contact information for the families in their class, and they have to swear to guard the list with their lives. When I mentioned that not having each other's contact information makes birthday parties, play dates, and carpooling difficult, the response was to send messages to the teacher for distribution to the class. As if they don't have enough to do. . .

Because unless a parent or parent organization takes on this work (and it is a lot of work) the school administration does not have time. They are busy running the school.

Fair enough, which is why I've volunteered to do it, only to be told that they will not release the information for the purpose of a directory. The school doesn't exactly encourage communications among families, and there's such a culture of :bcc, which is annoying because everything is basically an announcement with no real dialogue.

There is no requirement that a school must have a directory.

I think if enough parents joined you in asking for one, you might get it.