N.J. school accidentally released names of kids who opted out of sex education

A Cherry Hill resident has asked the U.S. Department of Education to investigate the Cherry Hill School District for releasing the names of dozens of students whose families opted them out of sex education classes.
Harvey Vazquez, a district parent and former school board candidate, told the department last week that the district violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. He was told to expect a response in three months, he said Friday.
The breach came after an education advocacy group filed public records requests in every district in the state, to measure how many families were opting out of the classes held under revised sexual education standards, adopted in 2020. Some critics felt the curriculum guidelines introduced topics like masturbation and gender identity to students when they were too young.
Superintendent Kwame Morton said the district had redacted the names, but that they reappeared when posted on the OPRAmachine website that helps people file public records requests. The names were removed last week, Morton said.
In a Nov. 4 letter from Morton to Vazquez and other parents, he wrote, “We have revised our processes to protect student information from any future exposure and are diligently working with all parties involved to ensure the complete protection of personal data,” he said. The letter, which did not include an apology, said the names had been redacted in one computer format, .PDF, but reappeared when published in another format, .HTML.
In an email Friday afternoon, Morton said, “I am pleased to report that there have been no known reports of negative interactions or teasing among the students involved as a result of this incident. We understand the seriousness of maintaining our students’ privacy and are committed to implementing enhanced secure redaction techniques to prevent such occurrences in the future.”
Vazquez had scolded the board at its Oct. 29 meeting, demanding immediate action to address the breach, which he said could leave the district open to a class action suit. He also demanded a public apology to the families.
“I am referring to the unauthorized disclosure of personal information pertaining to my son and at least 82 other students in our district,” he said. “It is utterly unacceptable that the names of students who opted out of this curriculum during the 2022-2023 school year were disclosed.” He said they were posted Sept. 1, 2023.
Vazquez, who narrowly missed being elected to the board this month, said he saw the names online while doing research for his campaign this fall. He told NJ Advance Media Friday that he received documents showing that at least one school official knew of the breach for almost a year but did not fix it or report it.
The breach involved students in A. Russell Knight, Bret Harte, Richard Stockton, and Thomas Paine Elementary Schools, Vazquez said.
From their requests, the advocacy group, the New Jersey Public Schools Coalition, learned that fewer than 3% of students were opted out of sex education classes statewide, refuting conservative claims that a larger portion of families had pulled their children from the classes.
In an Oct. 9 press release, the coalition wrote, “This clearly confirms that the claims of the right-wing organizations do not represent a majority, and the organizations that have been making those claims are misinformed and have been pursuing a campaign of disinformation. These organizations do not represent anything near a majority of parents.”
Michael Gottesman, head of the coalition, said he did not see the names; only the project’s data compiler did.
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Tina Kelley may be reached at [email protected].