The Atlanta Public Schools issued this notice, posted in numerous venues:
NOTICE TO ALL Atlanta Public Schools STUDENTS, PARENTS, AND GUARDIANS:
This notice is to inform you that the Atlanta Public Schools has received a subpoena related to Fulton County Superior Court case 13SC117954. The subpoena requires the school system to produce information that may contain the education information of students, including student identification numbers. Please note that the subpoena is directed to the school system, and you are not required to take any action or provide any information.
The school system will comply with the subpoena and provide the subpoenaed information unless restrained in some manner by legal authority. The school system is providing you this notice as required by the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Should you choose to seek protective action, it is your responsibility to take the necessary steps with appropriate court officials. The school system must comply with the subpoena unless restrained in some manner by legal authority, and the school system is not allowed to withhold the subpoenaed information based upon a request by a student, parent, or guardian.
Court officials will have access to the subpoenaed information on or after May 17, 2013, unless restrained in some manner by legal authority.
Please be assured that Atlanta Public Schools takes the privacy of students and their families very seriously and discloses information related to students and their families only in a manner allowed by law.
— Atlanta Public Schools
The case involves what has become known as the “APS Cheating Scandal,” in which 35 individuals were indicted by a grand jury. It’s not clear whose attorney issued the subpoena, but I see that 8 of the 35 indicted staff were listed on the court’s docket for this morning.