PASCO COUNTY, Fla. – Today, the PASCO (People Against the Surveillance of Children and Overpolicing) Coalition will lead an outdoor community rally before the Pasco County School Board meeting to oppose its practice of voluntarily sharing confidential student data with law enforcement for the past 20 years.  

 

According to Tampa Bay Times investigation last year, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office predictive policing program – has profiled hundreds of Pasco County students as future criminals using educational data provided by the school district including information about grades, absences, and other private details. The reporting uncovered that students’ names, some as young as 14 years old, were placed on a secret target list that is used by the Sheriff’s Office to needlessly surveil and harass them and their families.

 

Members of the community are concerned that their children’s names may be on the list and that the program poses a disproportionate threat to Black students who make up 7% of the district’s overall student population but account for 23% of the students who are expelled from school each year.

 

Despite a joint statement in May announcing revisions to the program, the Sheriff’s Office continues to have significant access to student information without parental knowledge or consent. During the rally and school board meeting, the PASCO Coalition and other members of the community will call on school board members to:

 

·        Stop voluntarily sharing student records without parental consent when it’s not required by law;

·        Notify parents if their children’s records were shared with the sheriff and make them erase the database; and,

·        Stop negotiating data sharing agreements with law enforcement in secret without community voice.

 

The event can be viewed live on the PASCO Coalition Instagram page, Facebook page, or in person at the school board building. Reporters should contact Ashley Levett for questions or to schedule an interview at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  

 

WHO:            PASCO Coalition, members of the community

 

WHAT:         Community rally and public comments planned for Pasco County School Board Meeting to demand the district cut all ties to the Sheriff’s predictive policing program and to notify parents if their children’s records were ever shared with the Sheriff

 

WHEN:         Tuesday, August 17, 2021, at 5:30 p.m. ET.

 

WHERE:      Pasco County School Board Building

7227 Land O’ Lakes Boulevard

Land O’ Lakes, Florida

 

Watch live on the PASCO Coalition Instagram page at: instagram.com/pascocoalition

 

Watch live on the PASCO Coalition Facebook page at:

 

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