Education Technology

Artificial intelligence

F3 Law has advised hundreds of school districts on the development of AI guidelines for staff and students. In this rapidly emerging area, school districts need to be prepared to support future-ready learners and at the same time, provide a safe educational environment. AI impacts all areas of school district operations and F3 Law partners with District leaders to ensure that AI tools are properly evaluated for risks including protection of data privacy, threat monitoring, and collection of parental consent where required. Staff are excited to utilize AI to streamline school operations, however, school districts need to establish protocols to prevent inadvertent disclosure of personally identifiable information (PII) into open generative AI. Our attorneys work with school districts to establish an AI contract review process and vetting protocol and trains staff on these procedures.

Technology contracts

We regularly assist school districts as they seek to identify and acquire the right technologies to suit their educational objectives. This often means negotiating, drafting, and reviewing software licenses or agreements to purchase equipment such as laptops, tablets, and other tools. We assist with compliance in the purchasing process, drafting RFPs, bidding matters, lowest-price guarantees, and financing, including e-Rate financing.

Ensuring data privacy

F3 Law is the architect of the state and federal student data privacy agreement, used by school districts and software companies nationwide. This experience allows F3 Law attorneys to work with school districts to ensure student safety in the online platforms used by students.
Some matters of data privacy are enshrined in federal and state law, such as The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA), California’s Student Online Personal Information Protection Act (SOPIPA), the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA). Balancing compliance with laws and regulations against the need to prevent harm to students and schools is a complex matter with which experienced legal counsel can be of significant value. From compliance to best practices, F3 attorneys will help you find the approach and balance that makes.

Responsible use of technology

Responsible use of technology is a broad and complex area focused on how students and staff engage with online tools such as social media. We assist school districts as they seek to develop policies that establish rules regarding personal mobile devices in schools, promote online safety, and prevent a wide range of bad online behaviors such as cyberbullying, sexting, and drug dealing. There may be first and fourth amendment issues in play when districts engage in online monitoring for purposes of preventing other issues, such as self-harm and violent threats and acts. But prevention is far from the only issue, as schools struggle with how to respond to these behaviors within the law and the California Education Code. What are a district’s legal exposures? How should a district work with law enforcement? These are all complex questions but well within the experience of F3 attorneys.

Social media management

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued recent rulings impacting school board members, staff, and students and their rights to free speech and social media. F3 Law had the opportunity to represent the California School Board Association (CSBA) before the Supreme Court as a real party in interest in a favorable ruling in support of school board members.
School districts, school sites, and school-related organizations maintain multiple social media platforms, which school districts can be legally responsible for. As such, it is important that school districts are aware of which platforms they are legally responsible for and understand the scope of the duty to monitor these platforms. Social media guidelines are a helpful tool in establishing social media expectations in the school community. F3 Law provides guidance and training to school boards, administrators, and staff regarding social media legal requirements, monitoring protocols, and reduction of legal liability.

Cybersecurity: prevention and response

Cybersecurity is a complex matter that includes both preventative measures and response planning. On the front end, we assist with contracts with cybersecurity companies as well as security components of software licenses and equipment agreements. Training and planning for breach responses also help ensure that if there is a problem, district personnel know how to handle it. On the response side, should there be a data breach, a ransomware attack, or other problem, we’re ready to jump in and advise on initial responses, notification requirements, crisis communications, and more.

Professional development in technology use and safety

We regularly provide training and professional development programs to school boards, administrators and educational organizations on topics like managing responsible social media use, development of AI policy, software contract review process for student data privacy compliance, and more.