File No. 390

Senate, April 7, 2014

The Committee on Education reported through SEN. STILLMAN of the 20th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the Senate, that the bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING STUDENT PRIVACY AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE ARMED SERVICES VOCATIONAL APTITUDE BATTERY.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) Each local and regional board of education shall require any person who administers the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery at a school under the jurisdiction of such board to select as the score-reporting option on such battery the option in which the results of such battery are not released to recruiting services, such as representatives of the armed forces of the United States of America and state armed services. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a student who is eighteen years of age or older at the time such student takes such battery or the parent or guardian of any other student taking such battery from releasing the results of such student to a recruiting service. Such board shall provide written notice to students taking such battery and the parents or guardians of such students taking such battery of the provisions of this section.

The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst's professional knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.


OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact: None

Municipal Impact:

Explanation

The bill results in a cost of less than $100 to various local and regional school districts who administer the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test, associated with providing written notice of the procedures for releasing a student's test results. It is anticipated that less than 3,000 Connecticut High School students take this test annually.

The Out Years

The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to the cost of providing written notice and the number of students who take the test.

OLR Bill Analysis

SB 423

AN ACT CONCERNING STUDENT PRIVACY AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE ARMED SERVICES VOCATIONAL APTITUDE BATTERY.

SUMMARY:

This bill requires local and regional boards of education to require anyone administering the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test to withhold students' results and corresponding personal identification information from federal and state military recruiting services. It also allows 18-year-old students and the parents or guardians of minor students to release these results to a recruiting service if they desire.

The bill requires local and regional boards of education to provide written notice of these provisions to students and parents or guardians of students who take the ASVAB test in school.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage

BACKGROUND

ASVAB

ASVAB is a test developed by the Department of Defense (DoD) designed to (1) screen students' enlistment eligibility for the U.S. Army and (2) determine their interests and skills for nonmilitary careers. Students may have the opportunity to take a paper version of the test in their high schools given by test administrators from the federal government. Some high schools offer ASVAB as an option, while others automatically administer it to all students in grades 11 or 12.

ASVAB asks students to voluntarily disclose private information, including Social Security numbers and demographic information, in order to have test results scored, and does not require a signed parental release statement if the test taker is a minor. DoD maintains that ASVAB is exempt from the provisions of the 1974 federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) that require a signed parental release statement.  FERPA protects the privacy of student education records.

ASVAB test results are initially withheld from military recruiting services for at least seven business days to allow counselors time to distribute the results and counsel students. After that time, schools may choose a score reporting option that prevents the release of test results to recruiting services and prevents recruiters from contacting test-takers.

COMMITTEE ACTION

Education Committee

Joint Favorable