Data Privacy: A Critical Multi-Stakeholder School District Priority

About the Presenters

Deer Park Independent School District’s superintendent, Mr. Stephen Harrell, is a lifetime educator with over 35 years of experience in the field of education. During the first ten years of his education career, Mr. Harrell was a science teacher and a coach. Following his time as a teacher and coach, Mr. Harrell worked as an assistant principal and principal. He has served as a central office administrator for eleven years, including the last four years as Superintendent of Schools in Deer Park ISD in Texas. Mr. Harrell is also a proud 1985 graduate of Deer Park ISD.

A passionate, visionary leader in public education for nearly three decades, Dr. Aaron Spence is committed to ensuring all students have access to rigorous coursework, innovative learning opportunities, and resources they need to prepare them for success. He’s been credited with creating and fostering a work and school division culture where differences are celebrated and student and staff voices are valued. Dr. Spence serves as Superintendent of Loudoun County Public Schools, Virginia, where he is responsible for the instructional leadership and administrative operation of 98 schools and centers that serve nearly 83,000 students. Prior to that, he served as Superintendent of Virginia Beach City Public Schools, where he was named 2018 State Superintendent of the Year. He has been a superintendent in North Carolina and held various roles in the central office and as a school principal in Texas and Virginia. Dr. Spence began his career in 1994 as a French and photojournalism teacher.

Dr. Calvin J. Watts has served as Superintendent of Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS)—Georgia’s largest school district and the eleventh-largest and fifth-most diverse district in the Nation—since July 30, 2021. As a former GCPS leader for 13 years, Dr. Watts rejoined the district after serving as Superintendent of Kent School District for six years. His education career includes positions with the Archdiocese of Atlanta, Seattle Public Schools, Atlanta Public Schools, and Carrollton City Schools. Dr. Watts’ leadership philosophy has always been to reach and teach all students as if they had his last name. Dr. Watts is focused on building the bridge from empathy to excellence, along with listening and learning to engage more people in the district’s strategic plan. Under his leadership, the district has brought new voices into the conversation about better serving the whole learner in terms of what our students need to be successful.

Linnette Attai is Project Director for CoSN’s Privacy Initiative and Trusted Learning Environment Program. As founder of the global privacy consulting firm PlayWell, LLC, Linnette delivers strategic advice and training, policy development, and technology assessments, and builds cultures of compliance across a wide range of organizations. She also serves as virtual chief privacy officer and GDPR data protection officer to select clients. Linnette is a recognized expert in the youth and education sectors and speaks nationally on data privacy matters. She is a TEDx speaker and author of the books Student Data Privacy: Building a School Compliance Program, Protecting Student Data Privacy: Classroom Fundamentals, and Student Data Privacy: Managing Vendor Relationships.

About the Moderator

Ann McMullan is Project Director for the CoSN EmpowerED Superintendents Initiative, created in partnership with AASA, The School Superintendents Association. Ann served as Executive Director for Educational Technology in Klein ISD, near Houston, Texas until September 2013, when she and her family moved to Los Angeles, California. For 16 years, Ann led the district team that provided professional development on technology and 21st century instructional strategies to 4,000 educators serving 50,000 students. She was co-chair of the Texas Education Technology Advisory Committee, which developed the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology.

Today, Ann leads her own consulting firm, Ann McMullan, Education Leadership Consultant. She is a public speaker, writer, and consultant focused on leadership to meet the needs of today’s students. Ann serves on the edWeb.net Advisory Board and is a founding member of ERDI’s Ed Leadership Council. Ann is co-author of Life Lessons in Leadership.