COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Recruiting: Student Privacy
NB schools limit military access to test scores
Jessica Musicar, The World Link
December 12, 2007
NORTH BEND Uncle Sam may want you, but he won't be getting your
information from the North Bend School District.
In response to several parents' complaints regarding results of an
aptitude test that are released to the military, the School District
has changed how that information is reported.
At a North Bend School Board meeting on Monday, North Bend High
School Counselor Pam Romanko said scores from the Armed Services
Vocational Aptitude Battery will no longer be delivered to military
recruiters, who may use the scores to pressure teens into the service.
The test is offered once a year to juniors and some seniors. It will
be administered today.
"Just because we've always done something a certain way doesn't mean
that it's necessarily the best thing to do," Romanko said of the
ASVAB, which has been offered at the high school for many years,
along with the practice of releasing information students provide on
the exam form, including Social Security numbers, racial and ethnic
identifications.
Designed by the U.S. Department of Defense, the ASVAB measures
verbal, math, science and technical skills, as well as student
interest in a variety of topics, to determine what careers would best
fit each individual, Romanko said. During the examination, students
have been required to sign a statement allowing the school to release
information to military recruiters.
Since parents Barbara Taylor and Janice and Tom Wilczek began airing
their concerns about the test, arguing that the high school's
practice of releasing information violates the Family Education
Rights Privacy Act of 1974, the school has chosen to use the test's
least-intrusive release option, known as Option 8, which uses the
scores solely for school purposes.
"Option 8 makes the most sense," Romanko said, adding parent concerns
made school administration look more deeply at how and what
information is provided to outside entities.
According to a NBSD form titled "Disclosure of Student Records to
Military," dated Dec. 10, the high school will not release student
education records to the military without prior written and dated
consent of the eligible student or students' parents or guardians:
"The North Bend High School may release the results of the ASVAB test
to the military only if the North Bend High School has received a
signed, written consent for such a release from the parent(s) or
guardian(s) of a student or from an eligible student."
It also states that prior to the administration of the test, the high
school shall notify parents and guardians; the test is not mandatory;
and if test results are released to the military, student names,
addresses and telephone numbers may be used for recruiting purposes.
During the board's meeting on Nov. 20, the same parents urged the
district to choose Option 8 or to discontinue the test all together.
Janice Wilczek, who argued with the School Board during Monday's
charged meeting, said she learned that her son, a senior at North
Bend High School, had taken the exam last year without her knowledge.
She was particularly upset that her child's information was in a
database that could be accessed by military recruiters.
"I have a problem with that. ... If my son is signing something at
school I think I should know," Janice Wilczek said, adding she
doesn't want her child to be persuaded by military recruiters. "How
can we advise our children whether or not to take the test"
After learning of the school's decision to choose Option 8, Janice
Wilczek said she was pleased, but characterized a letter to junior
parents as somewhat inadequate, since it did not address the topic of
personal information.
According to a letter dated Dec. 5, which describes the high school's
revamped policy, "the ASVAB scores are solely for school use and are
not released to the military." The letter was sent out last week with
junior report cards, Romanko said.
"Students are highly encouraged to take the test and use the results
as part of their information- gathering process as they move towards
graduation and post-high school options," the letter states.
Despite agreeing to the change, some school board members began what
appeared to be a philosophical argument with Janice Wilczek about
whether it matters if student information is released if a teen
doesn't want to join the military. Others said that if a student
expresses interest, he can take his scores in hand and sit down with
a recruiter face-to-face.
Janice Wilczek reiterated she had been left out of the process when
her child took the ASVAB last year.
"I'm just asking for the information so I can guide him," she said.
"As long as my child is a minor, I still get to decide."
School Board Chairwoman Karen Helland said she appreciated Taylor and
the Wilczeks' passion on the topic, but "It's grown to be more than
we thought."
She added that the administration had bent over backward to fulfill
their requests.
"I think we are human beings with a lot on our plates and I think
we've done a lot in a short period of time," Helland said.
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