Privacy Policy

01

Who this policy covers

The Connecting Pod connects Texas school districts with licensed special-education providers: evaluators, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, and counselors. This policy applies to:

• Visitors who read this website or contact us.
• District and campus staff who register a school, request services, and review records in the platform.
• Providers who apply to deliver services and document the services they deliver.

Students and families do not create accounts. Student information reaches us only from the district that serves the student.

02

Information we collect

On this website

This website is informational. It does not offer accounts, sign-in, or payments. “Log in” and “Register your school” take you to the separate platform.

• What you send us. If you use the contact form or email us, we receive what you provide, such as your name, district or school, role, email address, phone number, preferred call time, and message.
• Standard technical data. Like most websites, the systems that serve this site may record basic request information, such as IP address, browser type, and pages visited, to keep the site secure and working.

We do not use this website to advertise to you or to sell data.

In the platform

When a district or provider signs in to the platform, we collect what is needed to run each engagement:

• Account information, such as name, work email, role, and the district or school you represent.
• Provider credentials, such as license details and the background checks Texas requires of people who work in schools.
• Service records, such as requests, schedules, session notes, evaluation reports, and messages tied to an engagement.
• Student information that a district provides so a provider can deliver a requested service.

03

How we use information

• To respond to your inquiries and schedule calls you request.
• To match district requests with qualified, verified providers.
• To schedule, deliver, document, and bill for services.
• To verify provider licenses and complete required background checks.
• To keep the website and platform secure and to meet our legal and audit obligations.

We do not sell personal information, and we never use student information for advertising or marketing.

04

How we share information

We share information only as needed to provide the service:

• Within an engagement. A provider sees only the students on that provider's active engagements. District staff see records for their own district.
• With service providers that help us host and operate our systems, who must protect the information and use it only on our behalf.
• When the law requires it, or to protect the safety of students, users, or the public.
• In a business transfer, such as a merger or sale, subject to the protections in this policy.

05

Third-party services

This website may link to other sites, and some platform features may work with services run by third parties. If you choose to use one of those features, we share only the information that feature needs.

The third party's own terms and privacy policy govern how it handles your information. We are not responsible for sites or services we do not control.

06

Student information and FERPA

Student education records belong to the district. When a district shares student information with us, we act on the district's behalf and under its direction, as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) allows for school officials with a legitimate educational interest.

We use student information only to provide the services the district requested. We do not re-disclose it except as the district directs or the law allows.

Parents and eligible students who want to review or correct a student's records should contact their school district, which controls those records. We will support the district in responding.

07

How we protect information

• Access is scoped by role and by engagement.
• Student personally identifiable information is stored encrypted.
• Access to student records is logged.

Our Compliance page describes these safeguards in more detail. No system is perfectly secure. If we learn of a breach affecting your information, we will notify affected districts and users as the law requires.

08

Data retention and deletion

We keep information only as long as we need it for the purposes in this policy, including the legal and audit record-keeping obligations that apply to special-education services.

Messages sent through this website are kept only as long as needed to respond and follow up. When a district's engagement ends, we return or delete its student information as the district's agreement provides, unless the law requires us to keep it.

09

Your choices

• Ask to see, correct, or delete the personal information we hold about you by emailing us.
• Platform users can update account details in the platform or ask us to close an account.
• You can stop using any optional third-party feature at any time.
• Send requests about a student's records to that student's district.

10

Children

This website and the platform are for adults acting for districts or as providers. They are not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect information from children, other than student information a district provides as described above.

11

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the service changes. The current version is always posted on this page. When changes are significant, we will also let districts and platform users know directly.

12

Contact us

Questions or requests about privacy go to info@mindbridgetx.com. A person reads every message, Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Central Time.