Google Drive Transfer by Missouri School Teacher Backed Firing

The Jefferson City, Mo., school board had the authority to fire an instructional technology coordinator who transferred data, including confidential student information, from her school district’s Google for Education account to her personal Google account for purposes of her job discrimination lawsuit, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled.

Federal law requires school districts to protect against the disclosure of confidential student information or risk losing their federal funding, the court said. The board found after a hearing that Tammy Ferry failed to comply with its policies on technology usage and data governance implementing federal law. A state circuit court mistakenly ordered ...