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Fairfax County Privacy Concerns

Within the last two days, HEAV received more than 120 contacts from concerned parents regarding an email they received from Lightspeed Systems, an educational software company and Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) partner located in Austin, Texas. The emails included homeschool parents’ full names, email addresses, and the first names of their homeschooled children, raising privacy concerns among the parents.

Following HEAV’s request for an immediate investigation, Fairfax has confirmed the communication was sent in error. Parents may receive correspondence from FCPS addressing the situation.

How Did This Happen?

FCPS partners with Lightspeed Systems to provide parents of public school children with weekly reports on their child’s activity monitored on school-issued devices and school networks. Related, FCPS uses a common Student Information System (SIS) to house and manage student data. Unfortunately, as FCPS connected public school data with Lightspeed Systems through its SIS system, homeschool families’ information was exposed.

Per HSLDA’s and HEAV’s request, technical teams worked to correct this error and ensure all homeschool information is excluded from the Lightspeed system. They have confirmed that this process has been completed. HEAV appreciates FCPS’s prompt response to this important concern as well as its thorough communication and follow-up.

What’s Next for Privacy Concerns?

We encourage parents to retain all emails received from Lightspeed Systems as well as related correspondence from LCPS. You may also continue to report incidents to support@heav.org. In addition, please read our 2025 Privacy Concerns letter, sent to superintendents and school board chairmen statewide, which addresses our ongoing concerns about compliance with Virginia’s home instruction privacy law. HEAV teams monitor all 131 school board meetings, equip parents, and work directly with division personnel to resolve hundreds of conflicts each year. We will continue efforts to pursue more robust privacy protections for homeschool families. This year, HB2598 was one such successful effort we hope to build upon. Will you join HEAV in supporting the essential work in keeping homeschool minors and their families protected?