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Lawsuit alleges school app shares student data
A popular digital learning program used in classrooms across Florida, and throughout the U.S., is at the center of a legal battle over student privacy. FOX 13's Aaron Mesmer reports.
TAMPA, Fla - A popular digital learning program used in classrooms across Florida, and throughout the U.S., is at the center of a legal battle over student privacy.
The program, known as i-Ready, is used in nearly 60 school districts statewide, including several in the Bay Area.
It provides reading and math instruction while tracking student progress throughout the school year.
Now, a California mother has filed a lawsuit against its parent company, Curriculum Associates, alleging the platform is collecting and potentially sharing sensitive student data.
Nicki Petrossi, an online safety advocate and the parent behind the lawsuit, said she was unaware of how much information was being gathered.
"We didn't know what they were doing with that data. Who are they sharing it with? Who are they selling it to?" Petrossi said.
What we know:
The lawsuit claims i-Ready collects more than 80 categories of student data, including personal identifiers and behavioral information.
Petrossi said that includes names, birthdates, gender, contact details, race, IP addresses, and even psychological and behavioral data.
"We are alleging that Curriculum Associates data practices violate our kids' fundamental right to privacy and the parents' right to protect our children from exploitation," she told FOX 13.
Andrew Liddell, an attorney with the EdTech Law Center and part of the legal team, said the issue goes beyond basic data collection.
"They're also using information that they collect to create detailed behavioral profiles on students that are used to determine their life chances," Liddell said.
The lawsuit further alleges that some of this data is being shared with third-party companies. According to Liddell, forensic analysis identified at least one destination.
"Our investigation revealed that information is being transmitted to Google's ad business, to Google Analytics. And that is a directly commercial activity separate and apart from any benefit to Curriculum Associates," he said.
Why you should care:
The case raises broader concerns about how student data is handled in an increasingly digital classroom environment.
Petrossi said the issue is about protecting children’s digital identities.
"I find my children's data to be very precious. I think it's the most valuable thing in our economy right now, and our children have a right to control what their digital identity looks like," she said.
With programs like i-Ready used widely in Florida schools, the outcome of the case could have implications for how educational technology companies collect, store, and use student information.
The other side:
A spokesperson for Curriculum Associates issued the following statement to FOX 13:
"Recently, a number of education technology providers have been targeted in a series of civil data privacy lawsuits. One such lawsuit was filed against Curriculum Associates in December 2025. The claims against Curriculum Associates are legally meritless. The i-Ready platform requires only the personal information necessary to deliver personalized assessment and instruction, and all use of student data is solely for educational purposes, in compliance with applicable federal and state laws. To be clear, we never sell student data, and we do not create commercial profiles of students.
Curriculum Associates has been a leader in education, developing curriculum and research-backed assessment tools with input from educators since long before the digital age. Our focus has never changed: improving student outcomes. We are agnostic between print and digital, guided first and foremost by what works best for teachers and students.
We take the protection of data very seriously. We are proud to have earned the trust of thousands of school districts over our 57-year history in education, and we will continue to work closely with districts to ensure robust data protections are in place, limit data collection to what is necessary, and maintain transparent data privacy and data handling policies. You can read more about our policies here."
In a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, the company’s attorneys described the case as an "ideologically-motivated crusade to use the courts rather than the legislative process to change how technology is used in schools."
The Florida Department of Education has not responded to questions about whether it has concerns regarding the allegations.
The Source: Information in this story comes from the lawsuit, court filings, interviews with the plaintiff and her attorney, statements from Curriculum Associates’ legal response, and FOX 13's Aaron Mesmer.