K Registration - SS#?? (quick advice needed!)

[ELTAZ]

I'm registering my dd for Kindergarten (she'll start this fall). I'm already a bit anxious about discussing the vax waiver when I sign her up, and so now here's another thing I want to be prepared to discuss. When I called to inquire, they said they require a full vax record (I'll sign the waiver on the back), a birth certificate, a proof of address, and a social security card. I don't mind showing a ss card, but I do NOT want her # used/recorded. KWIM? Is there any way around it? What do I say/do?

TIA!

[Emmeline II]

http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs10-ssn.htm#8

Can a school or college use my Social Security number as an identification number? Do I need to provide my SSN to the school? Publicly-funded schools and those that receive federal funding must comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act in order to retain their funding (FERPA, also known as the "Buckley Amendment," enacted in 1974, 20 USC 1232g). One of FERPA's provisions requires written consent for the release of “educational records” or personally identifiable information, with some exceptions. The courts have stated that SSNs fall within this provision. (See Krebs v. Rutgers, 797 F. Supp. 1246 (D.N.J. 1992)).
The FERPA text can be found at the Web site www.cpsr.org/cpsr/privacy/ssn/ferpa.buckley.html. Read the Department of Education’s FERPA guide for students, www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/students.html .
FERPA applies to state colleges, universities, and technical schools that receive federal funding. An argument can be made that if such a school displays students' SSNs on identification cards or distributes class rosters or grades listings containing SSNs, it would be a violation of FERPA. However, some schools and universities have not interpreted the law this way and continue to use SSNs as a student identifier. To succeed in obtaining an alternate number to the SSN, you will probably need to be persistent and cite the law.
SSNs may be obtained by colleges and universities for students who have university jobs and/or receive federal financial aid.
Public schools, colleges, and universities that ask for your SSN fall also within the provisions of another federal law, the Privacy Act of 1974. This act requires such schools to provide a disclosure statement telling students how the SSN is used. If you are required to provide your SSN, be sure to look for the school's disclosure statement. If one is not offered, you may want to file a complaint with the school, citing the Privacy Act.
When the school is a private institution, your only recourse is to work with the administration to change the policy or at least to let you use an alternate identification number as your student ID.
Many states now have laws banning public universities and colleges from using SSNs as student IDs. These include: Arizona, Colorado, New York, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Washington, and West Virginia. See Privacy Journal’s Compilation of State and Federal Privacy Laws, www.privacyjournal.net/work1.htm
And some universities have voluntarily began using numbers other than SSNs on student IDs. For more information on education-related privacy issues, see our Fact Sheet 29, www.privacyrights.org/fs/f
s29-education.htm

[MomInCalifornia]

I'm in CA and recentlt registered my daughter for K.

I also signed the back of the blue imunization card which they had no issue with, and on the forms where it asked for SS# I wrote "decline to state" with no issues.

They didn't ask to see the card, though they did require us to bring an original berth certificate (they didn't keep it, just photocopied it) and also needed a copy of our property taxes, house deed, and electric bill so that we could prove residency.

[mata]

I've never provided SSN #'s-no one has ever had an issue with it.

[Flor]

I imagine that only one of my fifteen students even has a SS number. I'm not sure what they did at registration or if it was an issue, but that are in my class!

[ELTAZ]

Thank you for the info! That was just what I needed - to build my confidence, and give me some info to print out to be armed with!

I'm off to see if they'll comply!

[moondiapers]

I just lie and tell them that my children don't have them.....in reality the number doesn't belong to me, so I don't have the right to give it out. Our health insurance company doesn't even have them. They have dh's and mine, but not the kids. I only write them on my tax forms, nowhere else.

[annethcz]

I didn't provide my kids' SSNs when registering them for school, and it was a non-issue. I told the school director that I wouldn't be providing the numbers and she told me, "that's fine."

I'm in MN, by the way.

[mommy68]

I would just write declined on there as well and initial it. They will probably not bring it up again anyway.

[mommyoftwo]

We just told them that they couldn't have it-end of story. We will do the same this year. The secretary kind of looked at me like I was crazy but said nothing.

BTW-my dh works at a very large public university and this is becoming a huge issue. They are in the process of changing over from using them as ID numbers.

[luvsviola]

You don't need one in Indiana. I know this because we are working on enrolling kids in the 21st Century Scholars college scholarship program and (at least) one of my students is illegal. He pulled me aside to quietly tell me that he doesn't have one and wanted to know what to put on the form. Luckily, they don't need it for this program anyway.

[CallMeMommy]

Originally Posted by moondiapers

Our health insurance company doesn't even have them.

How'd you pull that off? I don't want to give out the new baby's SS# for insurance this summer but I'm envisioning all sorts of "No number, no coverage" BS from the insurance company. I still wish I hadn't given DS's number to our insurance or clinic.

[ameliasward]

I ripped this out of Parents magazine in Nov 07:
"The only institutions that you're legally obligated to give your social security number to are your employer, your bank, and the IRS."

[moondiapers]

Originally Posted by CallMeMommy

How'd you pull that off? I don't want to give out the new baby's SS# for insurance this summer but I'm envisioning all sorts of "No number, no coverage" BS from the insurance company. I still wish I hadn't given DS's number to our insurance or clinic.

They just assign them a different ID number for their own purposes. They have dh's SS# and he's the primary card holder. I just left the SS# part of the form blank for the kids, and they never questioned it.

[A&A]

Just tell them to assign a student ID#.

[waiflywaif]

That's interesting that everyone was asked for this---we weren't. We just registered for K and they wanted the medical and dental forms, but no SS#.