The following policy applies only to the use of any website owned or operated by the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools. As users navigate the Boston School Committee and Boston Public Schools’ website, the user will see links that, when clicked, will take the user to other websites external to the Boston School Committee and Boston Public Schools. The Boston School Committee and Boston Public Schools each strongly suggest that users read the privacy policies for any external site that the users visit through a link appearing at this site. In addition, users should also review the Boston School Committee and Boston Public Schools’ website disclaimer, to learn about the terms of use of the website.

By using the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools website, you agree to this privacy policy and its terms of use. You further agree to not use the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools website for any unlawful or harmful purposes. If you do, your actions shall be considered a violation of these terms of use, and the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools may limit your access.

Website Privacy

At the Boston School Committee and Boston Public Schools’ website, the Boston School Committee and Boston Public Schools attempt to protect the privacy of users to the maximum extent possible. However, because some of the information that is received through this website is subject to the Massachusetts public records law, the Boston School Committee and Boston Public Schools cannot ensure absolute privacy. Information that users provide to either the Boston School Committee or to Boston Public Schools through this website may be made available to members of the public under the public records law pursuant to a public records request made by a member of the public. This website privacy policy informs users of the information that the Boston School Committee and Boston Public Schools collect from users at this website, what is done with the information collected, to whom the information may be disseminated, and how users can access it. Based on this information, users can make an informed decision about their use of this website and whether to share personally identifiable information with either the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools through this website.

Personally Identifiable Information 

The term "personally identifiable information" means any information that could reasonably be used to identify a user, including a user’s name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, child’s name, Social Security number, date of birth, or any combination of information that could be used to identify either the user or the user’s child.

Information Voluntarily Provided by the User

The Boston School Committee and Boston Public Schools’ website collects voluntary information from the user through surveys posted on the website or through e-mails that the user sends directly to the Boston School Committee. As a result, the Boston School Committee’s Boston Public Schools’ website may collect personally identifiable information the user voluntarily submits, such as name, address, e-mail address or telephone number, so that the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools may contact the user for follow-up to the user’s question, concern or recommendation. Any e-mail messages sent by the user to the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools website will contain personally identifiable information such as the user’s e-mail address and any other information the user chooses to give to the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools to help the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools answer the user's inquiry.

Information Automatically Collected and Stored by this Website 

The Boston School Committee and Boston Public Schools’ website each use "session cookies" to allow visitors to interact with the website and to use online applications. "Session cookies" do not allow either the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools to personally identify a visitor. These cookies are stored only on the user’s computer and may be deleted by the user. The Boston School Committee and Boston Public Schools’ website do collect and store a visitor’s "Internet Protocol ("IP") address," (which does not identify the user as an individual) indefinitely, as well as information about the date and time of a user’s visit, whether a file a user has requested exists, and how many "bytes" of information were transmitted to the user over the Web from either the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools’ website. The Boston School Committee and Boston Public Schools’ website use a user’s IP address to assess the frequency of visits to the website and the popularity of its various pages and functions. The Boston School Committee and Boston Public Schools will not attempt to match any personally identifiable information that a user provides to either the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools with a user’s IP address, unless there are reasonable grounds to believe that doing so would provide information that is relevant and material to a criminal investigation.

Boston Public Schools may use vendors in connection with the operation of its website to collect and process data in order to make its online website easier to use  In these cases, Boston Public Schools will also post a link to the vendor’s website where it explains how the vendor collects and processes data. Boston Public Schools also will include a statement that a website user may control information that is shared by their web browser when interacting or visiting sites by checking the “help” feature or “account settings” of their own web browser to learn how to use these features.

Dissemination of a User’s Personally Identifiable Information 

The Boston School Committee and Boston Public Schools do not sell any personally identifiable information collected through this website or submitted to the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools in connection with using functions on this website, and there is no direct or online public access to the information. However, once a user voluntarily submits personally identifiable information to either the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools related to the user’s use of the website, its dissemination is governed by the Massachusetts public records law, the Massachusetts Fair Information Practices Act, and the Massachusetts student records law and other applicable laws and regulations, including but not limited to, the federal Family Educational Rights Privacy Act. For this reason, part or all of the information a user sends to either the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools may be provided to a member of the public in response to a public records request pursuant to a public records request that is made by a member of the public.

In addition, the information that a user voluntarily submits to the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools will be disclosed only to members of the Boston School Committee, Boston Public Schools, or those individuals designated by the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools with a "need to know" for purposes of fulfilling their job responsibilities. The information will be used for such purposes as: answering the user’s questions; responding to any requests for assistance; generating summary statistics about usage; auditing applications and detecting fraud; aiding in the planning, design and development of the Boston School Committee’s or Boston Public Schools’ website; and fulfilling the Boston School Committee’s or Boston Public Schools’ legal obligations. Where appropriate, the Boston School Committee and Boston Public Schools may provide the information submitted by a user through an e-mail to the person or company that is the subject of the user’s inquiry, or to a federal, state, or local government agency responsible for the matters referred to in the user’s communication. Additionally, where appropriate and with the user’s agreement, the Boston School Committee and Boston Public Schools may release the information without a public records request having been received.

The Boston School Committee and Boston Public Schools also will collect and aggregate the information the user provides through surveys for purposes of market research to improve this website and/or to improve the operations of Boston Public Schools.

A User’s Access and Opportunity To Correct

The Massachusetts public records law and Fair Information Practices Act provide users certain rights to get information about themselves that is in the records of the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools. To learn more about the circumstances under which a user can get and correct this information, please read these laws.

Information contained on the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools website is subject to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. If you share any information through the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools website, that information will become a public record. This means that someone may be able to request this information from the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools if there is no public records exemption or law saying otherwise (like HIPAA, which limits how health information can be shared).

Security

Because e-mails sent to the Boston School Committee are not encrypted, users should not send messages containing information that a user considers highly sensitive to this website. The Boston School Committee uses standard security measures to ensure that information provided by a user, including a user’s personally identifiable information, is not lost, misused, altered, or unintentionally destroyed. The Boston School Committee also uses software to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits.

Additionally, because e-mails sent to employees of Boston Public Schools are not encrypted, users should not send messages containing information that a user considers highly sensitive to this website. Boston Public Schools uses standard security measures to ensure that information provided by a user, including a user’s personally identifiable information, is not lost, misused, altered, or unintentionally destroyed. Boston Public Schools also uses software to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits.

Third-Party Accessibility Tools & Data Privacy

AudioEye

To provide a customized and accessible experience, this website utilizes AudioEye, a third-party accessibility remediation service.

• Information Collected: When you interact with the accessibility toolbar, AudioEye may collect certain technical information (such as your IP address, browser type, and operating system) to optimize the interface for your device.
• Student Privacy (FERPA & COPPA): AudioEye is a service provider to the District and is subject to the privacy protections outlined in our Data Privacy Agreements (DPA). AudioEye does not collect student "education records" as defined by FERPA, nor does it perform targeted advertising.
• Massachusetts Data Privacy Alliance: In alignment with Massachusetts state standards, BPS ensures that third-party vendors comply with the TEC Student Data Privacy Alliance requirements to safeguard personal information.

Weglot

We use Weglot to provide language translation services on our website. To facilitate this, Weglot may process certain technical data (such as IP addresses) and use cookies to remember your language preference for future visits. Weglot does not store or collect student-specific 'education records.' Data processing is conducted in accordance with our district’s commitment to data privacy and our vendor agreements.

External Links and Portals 

For specific school functions, users may be redirected to third-party portals, including ParentSquare and Google Workspace for Education.

• ParentSquare: Information shared on ParentSquare is governed by the BPS Data Privacy Agreement (DPA) with ParentSquare and their specific Privacy Policy.
• Google Forms: Data submitted via Google Forms is managed according to the Google Workspace for Education Privacy Notice.

We encourage users to review the privacy settings and policies of these third-party providers before submitting sensitive information.

Policy changes

Any information the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools collects under the current website privacy policy will remain subject to the terms of this website privacy policy. After any changes take effect, all new information the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools collects, if any, will be subject to the new policy.

Contact Information

For questions about privacy while using either the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools’ website, please contact the Web Administrator at webmaster@bostonpublicschools.org.

Definitions

Cookies are files that a website can place on a user’s computer. A cookie file contains unique information that a website can use to track such things as a user’s password, lists of web pages a user has visited, and the date when a user last looked at a specific web page, or to identify a user at a particular website. A cookie file allows the website to recognize a user as the user clicks through pages on the website and when a user later revisits the website. A website can use cookies to "remember" a user’s preferences, and to record a user’s browsing behavior on the web. Although a user can prevent website from placing cookies on a user’s computer by using the browser's preference menu, disabling cookies may affect a user’s ability to view or interact with some website.

An Internet Protocol address or IP address is a series of numbers that identifies each computer and machine connected to the Internet. An IP address enables a server on a computer network to send a user the file that the user has requested on the Internet. The IP address disclosed to the Boston School Committee or Boston Public Schools may identify the computer from which the user is accessing the Internet, or a server owned by the user’s Internet Service Provider. Because it is machine-specific, rather than person-specific, an IP address is not, in and of itself, personally identifiable information.