Hofmeister Counters, Calls For Barresi Investigation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 19, 2014
Contact: Ellen Dollarhide

Hofmeister Calls for Investigation into Barresi’s Violation of Federal Privacy Laws, Releases Email Exchange

(Tulsa, OK—June 19, 2014) Republican Joy Hofmeister said today she is calling for a federal investigation into incumbent State Superintendent Janet Barresi’s violation of federal privacy laws.

Hofmeister said today she will provide emails (see attached documentation) showing that Janet Barresi had full knowledge of the privacy violations of student records and refused to do anything about it until after intense pressure from state board members, the media, and legislators.

Hofmeister also charged that Barresi’s staff admits that her own campaign benefited from her use of private student records. This includes the records of special education students receiving the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship through the State Department of Education.

Parents of special needs students recently revealed that they learned their child’s name had been made public because Barresi’s campaign reached out to them.

“Janet Barresi has repeatedly violated the privacy of Oklahoma school children. She has posted their private academic records and personal information on the State Department of Education website. There are multiple state and federal laws prohibiting this sort of behavior,” Hofmeister said.

In addition, Janet Barresi breached the privacy of special education students by identifying them and sharing their names and addresses with a third party—her own re-election campaign. “These are egregious failures of which Janet Barresi is desperate to conceal while she continues to use her personal fortune to smear my name,” Hofmeister said.

“Barresi’s conduct is a pattern of abuse that I witnessed during my appointment to the State Board of Education and is one of the reasons why I am compelled to run against her. Superintendent Barresi’s gross violations of state and federal privacy laws need to be fully investigated.”

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http://m.tulsaworld.com/news/education/parent-claims-barresi-violated-her-child-s-privacy-rights/article_301c10a2-dd22-5e24-8a30-ebc11d9f64ba.html?mode=jqm
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/education/education-officials-post-records-of-all-students-with-appeals-online/article_0735e83c-748e-55c9-b437-0f369b096772.html