Does CFSD Conduct Illegal Student Surveys?
Save CFSD notifies the greater Tucson community of a disturbing discovery at Catalina Foothills School District back in mid-August. The alert was made by multiple parents who confirmed their child received a survey requesting personal information as listed on the example below. Some went further to ask other private facts like the minor child’s sexual desires. Understandably, these parents requested a copy of the blank survey form and the completed form for their own child. A few parents emailed board members and superintendent Dr. Kamerzell seeking an explanation and record of the survey.
As of today, no CFSD official or staff member has responded to these parents with a copy of the survey as the law requires. They won’t even answer the parent who is inquiring of what was information was asked and what record the school is retaining about their child. The district has been under tremendous scrutiny over this kind of parental exclusion yet parrots the same response, “We do not keep this information from parents if they inquire.” Well, now we’re inquiring! What are they hiding?
Local and national news reported this week that CFHS illegally solicited private information from students and hid it from parents in violation of state law, federal law, CFSD’s non-discrimination policy, equity statement, and their own governing board policy.
Catalina Foothills School District’s email records show a trend…
“Most if not all teachers will ask students what pronouns they use in the first day or so.” – CFSD Administrator June 22, 2022
“What a fantastic first week…Teachers and staff verifying they were using students’ preferred…pronouns” – CFSD Principal August 15, 2021
“If you are like me, you may have been challenged recently to keep some of our kids’ pronouns and preferred names straight – and to remember what can and can’t be shared with families…Please be very careful – students in red are NOT comfortable with us sharing this information with their parents / guardians.” – CFSD Principal September 20, 2021
If there’s another survey that was hidden from you as a parent, please let us know. Your fellow parents of CFSD thank you for your bold action.
Want your voice heard? Do one or more of these:
- Email the board to place this topic as a future discussion item
- Ask your local principal what they’re doing about this
- Go to the next CFSD board meeting 6:30pm at 3435 E. Sunrise (north entrance)
- Anonymously sign the online petition opposing secret surveys like this
- Follow and share us on Twitter and Facebook
As proof that we’re making a difference, comments made on August 8th by CFSD leadership addressed concerns raised by our report that 40% of district residents leaving for other school options. Watch the board acknowledge student retention as a continual problem (starting at 31:00):
“I do appreciate the emphasis…on developing outreach to families who may have left CFSD and surveying reasons for that. It’s something we’ve talked about year after year.” – CFSD Board President Eileen Jackson
We’re grateful to see the board recognize this problem and offer our support to save CFSD from damaging marks like this. We also thank our fellow CFSD parents and citizens for helping to restore excellence to public education and to save CFSD for the sake of our community.
Follow Save CFSD on Facebook & Twitter (X).