SOPPA Information
R-B Student Online Personal Protection Act Information
R-B Software Resources
We maintain our software vendor agreements with tools provided by the Illinois Student Privacy Alliance and the Student Data Privacy Consortium. A list of our vendor agreements can be found on our page in the SDPC database:
https://sdpc.a4l.org/district_search.php?state=IL&districtID=6502
What is SOPPA?
The Student Online Personal Protection Act (SOPPA) was passed by the Illinois legislature in 2019 and is in effect as of July 1st, 2021. SOPPA requires K-12 school districts to sign privacy agreements with educational software vendors which disclose what student data is shared with their company, what measures are taken to secure the content, how data breaches are disclosed, and how student data is disposed of at the close of a contract. Schools must maintain a list of these agreements, and that is the primary purpose of this page.
Additional Resources
Illinois State Board of Education
The ISBE's Student Information System is exempt from SOPPA and does not require a privacy agreement. Further, when ISBE shares student data with standardized testing vendors for assessments such as the Standardized Achievement Test, the Illinois Assessment of Readiness, or the Illinois Science Assessment, a privacy agreement with the district is not required.
Reference, Research, and Edutainment Websites
A privacy agreement is only required in the event a school shares student data with a vendor for K-12 education purposes. Therefore, if a teacher directs students to reference sites like Dictionary.com or Wikipedia, or to "edutainment" sites like those with math or spelling games, then no data is shared and an agreement is not required.
Student-Created Accounts and General Internet Usage
If a student creates an account on a website of their own accord, such as a social media account or a streaming media account, then this is also not covered under SOPPA and no agreement is required. Similarly, student web surfing for research or during free time is not covered by SOPPA. However, use of these accounts and general Internet access are still subject to content filtering at school and on school devices per the federal Children's Internet Protection Act.
College Accounts
Student data provided by students registered with Illinois Central College and similar partner institutions for classes taken at or through Roanoke-Benson is not covered by a SOPPA agreement. These institutions may require students to use an email account and software that likewise will not be covered by district agreements.
Notice to Faculty and Staff
Students should only be using software with vendors who have signed a agreement with the district. Any vendor who has refused to sign a data privacy agreement will not be used in the district and may be blocked.
If there is a need for a software product not listed in our database, please contact the district privacy officer, Mike Oliveri, who will pursue the required agreement with the vendor, or who will be able to verify whether the vendor refused an agreement.
Related Links
For additional information on the specific legislation or groups mentioned on this page, or to learn more about the National Data Privacy Agreement, please refer to the links below.
Privacy Agreement Information
Questions regarding SOPPA or software agreements may be directed to Mike Oliveri, District Privacy Officer, at moliveri@rb60.com.