The Regulations Protecting Student Information from Unauthorized Use

Laptop security Photo by Philipp Katzenberger on Unsplash

Education consultant Chip McGee served as a superintendent at Bedford School District in NH between 2003 and 2018. In 2016, Chip McGee was part of a task force approved by the Bedford School Board in NH to assess the issues and challenges relating to the use of social media and other technologies by school students and the impacts these technologies had on student privacy.

In its report, the task force acknowledged that technology had advanced dramatically over the years and had changed the education landscape. Many modern day schools even use third party technological services such as online educational tools to enhance learning. However, with these advancements comes the need to safeguard students’ information. The task force encouraged schools and parents to follow the US Department of Education’s privacy recommendations, one of which is maintaining awareness on relevant federal and state laws that prevent the commercialization of student information. Here are some of these laws:

-Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. This Act gives parents the right to inspect their children’s education records and seek amendments where the records are inaccurate. It also requires schools to seek parental consent before disclosing certain personally identifiable information in educational records.

-Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. This Act limits how commercial entities can collect and use data on children under the age of 13. It also has parental consent protections.
-Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment. This Act protects children in grades K-12 who take surveys from having their personal information collected used in marketing.

-Children Internet Protection Act. This Act requires schools taking federal discounts for internet access to set up internet safety protocols preventing students from accessing harmful content and protecting their personal information from unauthorized use and dissemination.

Visiting Varanasi, India

Streets of Varanasi

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Chip McGee is a seasoned educational administrator who provides expert guidance to a range of clients through Sugar Maple Consulting in Nashua, NH. Before becoming an advisor, he served 15 years in Bedford, NH, as the superintendent of schools for the Bedford School District. Outside of the professional arena, Chip McGee is an avid world traveler who took a memorable trip to Varanasi, India, in November 2018.

Described by Lonely Planet as “the India of your imagination,” Varanasi (known popularly as the “City of Light”) is a holy Hindu city that attracts scores of pilgrims to bathe in the sacred waters of the Ganges River. With a history that stretches back between 3,000 and 5,000 years, Varanasi is also one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world.

Visitors to Varanasi encounter a furry of action, colors, sounds, and smells that many find enchanting but some find overwhelming. The abundance of touts, who constantly vie for the attention (and money) of tourists, can be particularly taxing.

The signature tourism draw in Varanasi is its ghats: a series of long outdoor staircases that descend down the western banks of the Ganges. While most ghats support bathers, a few “burning ghats” serve as crematoria for human remains.

Three Major Attractions in India

Indian Flag

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The former superintendent of schools of the Bedford School District in NH, Chip McGee is now the assistant superintendent of Methuen Public Schools in Bedford, NH. In addition to education, Chip McGee's passions include travel. In 2018, he visited India for two weeks. 

The second-largest country in population, India has a rich heritage with diverse attractions that include beaches, national parks, the Taj Mahal, and the Mecca Masjid mosque. Here are three other major attractions:

1. The Holy City of Varanasi - One of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, Varanasi is a prominent pilgrimage center for Hindus. The city has more than 100 ghats, which serve as bathing locations, along the Ganges in addition to historic buildings such as Kashi Vishwanath Temple and Bharat Kala Bhavan Museum.

2. Harmandir Sahib, the Golden Temple of Amritsar - A vital hub of Sikh culture and history, Amritsar was founded by Ram Das in 1577, while the Harmandir Sahib opened in 1604. It's "Golden Temple" moniker refers to the gold that adorns its exterior. 

3. Sun Temple - Constructed in the 13th century, this tourist attraction is believed to have been built by Odishan king Narasimha Deva I in celebration of a military triumph over the Muslims. The temple was in use until the late 16th century, when it partially collapsed. By the early 20th century, the temple's interior was filled with stone. Despite the continual deterioration of the temple, licensed guides still speak of its history and its secular and religious imagery.

How to Make Maple Sugar

Maple tree
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A former superintendent of schools with the Bedford School District in Bedford, NH, Chip McGee has served as a consultant with Sugar Maple Consulting since November 2018. In his free time, Chip McGee makes maple sugar in his backyard, and taps his neighbor’s maple trees in exchange for free bottles of syrup. 

Maple sap becomes syrup through a process of boiling and filtering that significantly changes its color, flavor, and consistency. Interested parties can transform both homemade and store-bought maple syrup into maple sugar in a few simple steps.

First, maple sugar makers should boil maple syrup until it reduces by half and reaches roughly 260 degrees. Removing the syrup from the heat source, they then begin to stir it vigorously with a wooden spoon until it becomes granulated in texture. The entire granulation process typically takes around 5 minutes. Finally, skilled maple sugar makers can use a strainer and/or a food processor to break large clumps of sugar into fine grains.