The CoSN (the Consortium for School Networking) awarded Community High School District 99 its Trusted Learning Environment Seal. The seal is a national distinction for demonstrating a commitment to protecting student data through rigorous policies and practices. District 99 is the first in Illinois, and one of only 19 districts nationwide, to earn the seal.
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District 99 has earned national distinction for its student data privacy practices (l-r: Dr. Hank Thiele, District 99 Superintendent, Rod Russeau, Director of Technology)
“Earning this certification has taken hundreds of hours of work, starting well before the pandemic, and it builds on the foundation of all our strong efforts that focus on information security and privacy,” said Dr. Hank Thiele, superintendent of District 99. “Protecting our student and family information is an enormous responsibility that each one of us takes seriously every day.”
The TLE Seal Program is the only student data privacy framework designed specifically for schools. Earning the seal requires that school systems take measurable steps to ensure strong data privacy practices in leadership, business, data security, professional development and in classrooms.
“There’s a difference between knowing you have measures in place and being able to prove it,” said Rod Russeau, director of technology at District 99. “Having spent the last five years focusing intently on improving the district’s information security posture, applying for the seal was the ideal next step to deeply assess how we were doing and where to improve.”
To learn more about the TLE Seal Program, visit CoSN.org/Trusted.