TEACHER ALERTS STUDENTS OF PRIVACY RIGHTS, FACES DISCIPLINE

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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2014

BATAVIA - A high school teacher in Batavia who faced discipline for alerting students of their privacy rights before filling out a survey asking personal questions was approved for retirement this week. 

John Dryden, who taught 21 years, told three of his classes on April 18, 2013 that they had a Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate themselves when they took a social-emotional learning survey. The 34-question survey asked about drug, alcohol and tobacco use, and emotions, the Daily Herald reports.

Dryden told local news outlets that he would have discussed  the survey with the administration, but he found out about the contents 10 minutes before class.

The school said they planned to use the surveys to provide counseling assistance. 

Then-Superintendent Jack Barshinger said the Fifth Amendment didn't apply because the surveys would have become student records and subject to student privacy laws, and police wouldn't have been able to prosecute based on a survey alone, the report says.