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AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF FLORIDA The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida recently commended Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) for the way in which the school district requests social security numbers during the enrollment process. Last year, the ACLU of Florida made public records requests for enrollment forms for all Florida’s school districts in order to measure their compliance. After review and evaluation, M-DCPS was one of 54 districts statewide to receive a grade of “A.” The grades measure compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Plyler v. Doe (1982) holding that undocumented children cannot be barred from public schools based on immigration status. The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education issued a decree stating that school districts may not deny enrollment to students who do not provide a social security number, and if a school district does request a social security number, it must be on a voluntary basis with full disclosure regarding its use. M-DCPS’ enrollment form gives full disclosure regarding the request of a social security number and its use, and that providing a social security number is voluntary.
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