FCCPS COPPA Compliance Information

Dear Parents of school-aged children under the age of 13, 

In order for schools within the Falls Church City Public Schools (FCCPS) to continue to be able to provide your student with the most effective web-based tools and applications for learning, FCCPS needs to abide by federal regulations that require a parental signature as outlined below. 

FCCPS utilizes several computer software applications and web-based services, operated not by this FCCPS, but by third parties. These include Google Apps for Education (GAFE), and similar educational programs. A complete list of the programs with the privacy policy for each can be found on our district website: https://goo.gl/7QKzkm (Link). In order for our students to use these programs and services, certain personal identifying information -- generally the student’s name and FCCPS-issued email address -- must be provided to the web site operator. Your student will receive a FCCPS-issued Google email account to participate in the Google Apps for Education program used by FCCPS. (FCCPS-issued Google email accounts have been structured so that only certain individuals and entities - mainly users with @fccps.org or @student.fccps.org addresses - can send and receive emails to student email accounts.) Under federal law entitled the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), these websites must provide parental notification and obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from children under the age of 13. For more information on COPPA, please visit https://goo.gl/7QKzkm (Link)

The law permits schools such as ours to consent to the collection of personal information on behalf of all of its students, thereby eliminating the need for individual parental consent given directly to the website operator. This form - which should have been completed at the time you registered your student - will be on file with the district. If you have opted in, the form you completed constitutes consent for our schools to provide personal identifying information for your child consisting of first name, last name, and FCCPS-issued email address and username. If you have opted out, this form serves as documentation that you do not want your student to participate in these programs (https://goo.gl/7QKzkm  Link). If you have any questions or need clarification - or would like to change your previous decision to opt in or opt-out, please contact your child's school principal.