In a letter, U.S. Rep. Robert C. Scott, chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, urged the acting federal education secretary to open a federal investigation into Florida's Pasco Countyschool district's practice of sharing student data with law enforcement.
The three-page letter heavily references an investigative series in the Tampa Bay Times that found the district has shared student data with the Pasco Sherrif's Office. Some of the data reportedly includes grades, attendance and student discipline. The Sheriff’s Office has used the information to make a list of schoolchildren who might “fall into a life of crime," according to the Tampa Bay Times.
The Sherrif's office has told reporters that it uses the list to provide mentoring and resources to at-risk kids. And the school district has said that there is much more to the story than what has been reported.