Following accusations of predictive policing and the labeling of students, the sheriff will restrict access to student data.

LAND O' LAKES, FL — In response to accusations that the Pasco County Sheriff's Office is using "predictive policing" to identify children likely to become criminals, the sheriff and school system has revised its agreement regarding the sharing of information about students.

The new agreement was unanimously approved by the Pasco County School Board at Tuesday's regularly scheduled meeting.

Under the revised agreement, school resource officers' will no longer be able to obtain student data, including student grades, attendance and discipline. Additionally, SROs will no longer have access to the school district's Early Warning System, which designates which students are considered off-track, on-track or at-risk.

Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said the updated document is the result of a review of the agreement between the school district and sheriff's office mandated by the Florida Legislature in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act that requires information about students to be shared with law enforcement.

On Feb. 14, 2018, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz was accused of fatally shooting 17 students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. The shooting raised questions about whether Cruz's history of behavioral issues dating back to middle school had been adequately communicated to law enforcement and school officials.

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Coalition Responds, Plans Town Meeting

The Southern Poverty Law Center was quick to criticize the agreement, noting that the revised agreement wasn't on the school board's agenda and there was no chance for public input.

"The Pasco County School Board and Sheriff's Office continued its deception under the highly controversial predictive policing program when it announces 'revisions' to their student data-sharing agreement," said the center in a statement.

The PASCO (People Against the Surveillance of Children and Overpolicing) Coalition made up of 30 local, state, and national organizations, said the revised agreement didn't go far enough.

"The PASCO Coalition is extremely disappointed by the Pasco Sheriff's Office and the Pasco County School Board's announcement of 'revisions' to their data-sharing agreement. While these revisions were touted as reforms that were responsive to the 'distracting' criticisms the program was receiving, these revisions do not go far enough in limiting the sheriff's access to student records," said the coalition in a statement. "The revisions claim to remove SROs' access to student data, but maintain access for various other agencies, including the sheriff's office itself. There continues to be a lack of transparency. The sheriff and the district have again excluded the community, including parents from this process. Our coalition also has outstanding concerns about the way that this predictive policing program has and will continue to impact Pasco County families. These are fully addressed in the open letter we sent to the district today in advance of the school board meeting. We urge the district and sheriff to carefully consider and engage with the numerous issues that we have identified in our open letter as they move forward."

The PASCO Coalition said it obtained a copy of the revised agreement through a public records request to the school district, and said the revisions are insufficient to protect the rights of children whose information will still be accessible to the sheriff's office.

"The PASCO Coalition is extremely concerned about the continued lack of transparency, community-driven solutions, and public input around this program. Neither the district nor the sheriff has addressed what the sheriff is doing with the 20 years of student records in its possession," said the coalition. "Further, there is no process to notify parents and guardians about whether their children's information was provided to the sheriff, and if so, how it was used. Given the sheriff's and district's admissions about the unfettered access that was permitted for decades, these concerns must be addressed."

The coalition said it is also concerned that the program targets children of color, children with disabilities and low-income students for police monitoring and surveillance.

"Furthermore, we have no assurances that the district will permanently prevent similar predictive practices from re-emerging once national attention has abated. This was only a revision to the contract that expires at the end of the 2020-21 school year," the coalition said.

The coalition includes the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Florida (CAIR-FL), Florida Social Justice in Schools Project, the Intercultural Development Research Association, the National NAACP and the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, among other organizations.

It will host a town hall on Saturday, May 8, to discuss the data-sharing program and students' privacy rights. For more information about the event, the PASCO Coalition or to report if you think you, your child or your family has been targeted, contact the PASCO Coalition at 727-371-6199 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

LINK TO FULL ARTICLE: https://patch.com/florida/landolakes/pasco-sheriff-schools-revise-student-information-sharing-policy