Does EPISD Really Need Student’s Social Security Numbers?

Earlier this week, the El Paso Independent School District internal network was hacked and thousands of students’ personal information ended up in the wrong hands.

At Thursday’s EPISD news conference, interim Superintendent Terri Jordan said many parents were asking the school district why it was using children’s Social Security numbers at all.

Jordan said the answer was that the Texas Education Agency required the district to acquire student’s Social Security numbers.

ABC-7 spoke with TEA spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson, who said even though the TEA asks districts to provide students’ Social Security numbers, parents can request an alternative number that would be provided by the district.

What about removing the need for children’s Social Security numbers altogether?

During the news conference, EPISD Chief Technology Officer Stephen Stiles said, “Our first course of action will be to try and see if we can remove the need for Social Security numbers, but if that is not possible, then we will encrypt them.”

Officials said would be up to the TEA to make that option available.

“I think that something that we can certainly look at,” said Culbertson. “I can’t say for sure that it’s something that can be done.”

Parents who would want to have their child’s Social Security number changed to an alternative identification number may be out of luck.

According to a memorandum from the TEA to EPISD sent Friday to clarify the interpretation of the alternative numbers, the TEA states:

“If the person enrolling a student refuses or fails to provide the Social Security number for the student being enrolled, then the district [is] permitted to issue a State Assigned Alternative Identification Number (S Number) from the bank of numbers that were issued to the school district by the Texas Education Agency. However, There is no circumstance under which a district should offer to swap a student’s SSN for an ‘S Number.'”

ABC-7 spoke with several parents regarding the alternatives to Social Security numbers. They said they didn’t even know there was another option.

Officials from EPISD said there is a note at the bottom of their website’s registration page about the option for alternate identification numbers.