Watsonville - On June 29, The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees voted in favor (4 to 3) to increase student and family awareness of the OPT-OUT choice parents have to deny military recruiters access to private student information. The Board of Trustees finally approved the motion to include the OPT-OUT choice on the mandatory emergency card for all high school students.

Section 9528 of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act, requires high school administrations to release student contact information to military recruiters. Students and parents may “Opt-Out” of the information release list, but notification of this option is careless-to-nonexistent. Schools administrators, parents, and students are beginning to find ways to counter this breach of privacy. In Berkeley, there is an OPT-IN policy, and other districts like San Francisco have adopted resolutions regarding the military's new access to students' private information. Santa Cruz IMC Story and Photos

photos and notes: PVUSD Supports Student Privacy

audio: Hidden Clause in No Child Left Behind Act Lets Parents Opt-Out
audio: Pajaro Schools Support Opt Out Option

see also: Being a Military Recruiter Must Suck || All around the U$, Recuiters are Feeling the Heat || 4/20 Watsonville Counter-Recruitment Action || UCSC Students Kick Military Recruiters Off Campus || Berkeley High School Teach-In (March 2005) Report || Video