Your privacy matters to us.

1. Scope of This Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to information collected through our website, online forms, inquiry forms, enrollment forms, program applications, summer program forms, donor or sponsor forms, volunteer interest forms, email communications, phone communications, text communications, in person interactions, and other SHCTA related activities.

Shell Hebert Career & Technical Academy, also referred to as SHCTA, we, us, or our, is a nonprofit educational organization providing academic pathways, career and technical education, workforce training, student support services, and community based programs.

SHCTA serves a broad community, including high school students, adult learners, students with disabilities, neurodivergent learners, parents, guardians, caregivers, donors, sponsors, volunteers, workforce partners, educational partners, and community organizations.

2. Information We Collect

We may collect information directly from you when you complete a form, contact us, request information, apply for enrollment, enroll in a program, participate in a camp or activity, make a donation, sponsor a program, volunteer, or otherwise interact with SHCTA.

Personal and Contact Information

• Name of student, parent, guardian, adult learner, donor, sponsor, volunteer, staff member, contractor, or partner
• Email address, phone number, mailing address when needed, and preferred contact method
• Emergency contact information when required for enrollment, safety, or participation
• Parent, guardian, caregiver, or authorized pickup information
• Identification information when needed for enrollment, background screening, program eligibility, testing, certification, or compliance

Student and Program Information

• Student age, date of birth, grade level, school history, program interest, enrollment status, academic pathway, and course participation
• Applications, enrollment forms, attendance records, transcripts, progress notes, academic records, completion records, and certificates
• Information related to internships, apprenticeships, work based learning, workforce training, career goals, referrals, and job readiness support
• Information related to field trips, camp participation, after school activities, enrichment programs, and student events

Support and Safety Information

• Information related to accommodations, learning needs, behavior supports, executive functioning support, tutoring, student success planning, or referral needs
• Information voluntarily provided about disability, medical needs, allergies, medications, dietary restrictions, emergency care instructions, or safety concerns
• Incident reports, parent communications, wellness notes, authorized pickup records, and safety related documentation

Payment, Donation, and Sponsorship Information

If you make a payment, donation, sponsorship contribution, or other financial transaction, payment information may be processed through a secure third party payment provider. SHCTA does not intentionally store complete credit card numbers on its website.

Volunteer, Staff, and Contractor Information

• Volunteer interest forms, availability, experience, references, training records, and assigned roles
• Background check related information when applicable
• Staff, contractor, intern, or applicant information needed for onboarding, payroll coordination, training, compliance, safety, and operations

Website and Device Information

When you visit our website, certain information may be collected automatically, such as IP address, browser type, device type, pages visited, referring website, date and time of visit, and general usage data.

3. Sensitive Information

Because SHCTA works with students, families, adult learners, and community members, we may receive sensitive information. Sensitive information may include information about a child under 13, disability related information, health related information, support needs, educational history, financial need, emergency contact information, background screening information, or other information that requires additional care.

SHCTA seeks to collect only the sensitive information reasonably needed to provide education, support, safety, enrollment, compliance, donor, volunteer, or operational services.

SHCTA does not sell sensitive personal information. SHCTA does not knowingly sell personal information of children.

4. How We Use Information

We use information to operate our programs, communicate with families and participants, protect students, improve services, and fulfill our educational and nonprofit mission.

• Respond to inquiries, calls, emails, texts, and requests for information
• Process applications, enrollment forms, program registrations, tuition payments, donations, and sponsorships
• Provide academic instruction, career training, student support, tutoring, enrichment, camp programming, and community based services
• Coordinate accommodations, support plans, referrals, safety planning, and student success services when appropriate
• Communicate with parents, guardians, students, adult learners, donors, sponsors, volunteers, staff, and partners
• Coordinate field trips, events, internships, work based learning, volunteer placements, and community partner activities
• Maintain attendance, progress, completion, certification, financial, donor, volunteer, and compliance records
• Screen, train, and coordinate volunteers, interns, staff, contractors, and service providers
• Provide receipts, donor acknowledgments, grant reports, sponsor updates, and nonprofit reporting
• Improve our website, programs, communications, outreach, safety practices, and services
• Protect the rights, safety, and well being of students, families, staff, volunteers, donors, partners, and the SHCTA community
• Comply with applicable laws, funding requirements, regulatory requests, audits, contracts, court orders, or lawful requests

5. Student and Minor Privacy

Because SHCTA serves students and families, we take student privacy seriously. Student information is used only for educational, program, support, safety, administrative, operational, and compliance related purposes.

Children Under 13

Our website is intended for parents, guardians, adult learners, donors, sponsors, volunteers, partners, and community members. We do not knowingly collect personal information online directly from children under 13 without parent or guardian consent. If we learn that information has been collected online from a child under 13 without proper parent or guardian involvement, we will take reasonable steps to delete or limit the use of that information.

Parents and Guardians

Parents and guardians may contact SHCTA to review, update, correct, or request deletion of information submitted about their child, subject to legal, safety, educational, program, contractual, funding, and record retention requirements.

Eligible Students and Adult Learners

When a student becomes an adult learner, reaches the age of 18, or has rights that transfer under applicable law or program rules, certain privacy rights may belong directly to the student. SHCTA may still communicate with parents, guardians, sponsors, funders, or authorized representatives when the student has given permission, when permitted by law, or when needed for safety, emergency, enrollment, billing, or program administration.

6. Education Records

Student education records may include enrollment documents, attendance, grades, transcripts, progress records, completion records, support records, disciplinary records, communication records, testing information, and records related to career training, certification, internships, or workforce programs.

Where the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, state student privacy laws, funding rules, school policies, or partner requirements apply, SHCTA follows applicable requirements for protecting education records, limiting unnecessary disclosure, and requiring appropriate consent before sharing personally identifiable student information, unless an exception or legal obligation applies.

SHCTA may disclose student information to school officials, instructors, staff, contractors, volunteers, service providers, workforce partners, educational partners, or other authorized individuals who have a legitimate need to access the information to perform services for SHCTA or the student.

SHCTA may also disclose records when required or permitted by law, including for health or safety emergencies, audits, compliance reviews, funding requirements, court orders, subpoenas, or lawful requests.

7. Health, Disability, and Support Information

SHCTA may collect health related, disability related, dietary, allergy, emergency care, accommodation, behavioral, or support information when voluntarily provided by a parent, guardian, eligible student, adult learner, or authorized representative.

This information is used to support student safety, participation, accommodations, programming, communication, referrals, and care coordination. SHCTA seeks to limit access to individuals who need the information to support the student, operate the program, protect safety, or comply with applicable requirements.

SHCTA is an educational organization and is not a medical clinic. If students or families receive services from an outside therapist, clinician, healthcare provider, behavioral provider, speech provider, occupational therapy provider, physical therapy provider, counselor, or other independent provider, that provider may maintain separate records and may have separate privacy notices, consent forms, billing practices, and legal obligations.

SHCTA may coordinate with outside providers only when appropriate, authorized, required, or necessary to support the student, protect safety, or operate the program.

8. Photos, Videos, and Student Stories

SHCTA may take photos or videos during programs, events, field trips, graduation activities, classroom activities, donor activities, or community events. SHCTA will seek appropriate permission before using identifiable student photos, videos, names, testimonials, success stories, or program participation details for marketing, social media, newsletters, donor reports, grant reports, sponsor updates, or public recognition.

Parents, guardians, eligible students, and adult learners may decline media permission when applicable. SHCTA may still use non identifying photos, group images without names, or images where individuals are not reasonably identifiable, unless restricted by a specific agreement or applicable law.

9. How Information Is Shared

SHCTA does not sell personal information. We may share information only when reasonably necessary to operate programs, provide services, meet legal obligations, protect safety, process payments, coordinate support, or fulfill our mission.

• With SHCTA staff, instructors, administrators, contractors, interns, or volunteers who need information to perform assigned responsibilities
• With parents, guardians, eligible students, adult learners, authorized representatives, or emergency contacts when appropriate
• With educational partners, workforce partners, testing providers, certification providers, internship sites, referral partners, or service providers when needed for enrollment, instruction, support, certification, placement, reporting, or services
• With payment processors, donor platforms, form providers, website hosting providers, email providers, text messaging providers, learning management systems, analytics providers, and other vendors who help us operate
• With government agencies, regulators, funders, auditors, reporting partners, or grant partners when required for compliance, funding, workforce programs, or legal obligations
• With law enforcement, emergency responders, child protection authorities, or safety personnel when necessary or legally required
• When needed to protect the health, safety, rights, or property of students, families, staff, SHCTA, or others
• When required by law, subpoena, court order, investigation, audit, or other lawful request

When sharing student or sensitive information, SHCTA seeks to limit disclosure to the information needed for the specific purpose.

10. Vendors and Online Platforms

SHCTA may use third party platforms and service providers for website hosting, online forms, email, text messaging, payment processing, donor management, learning management, online curriculum, virtual instruction, assessments, scheduling, file storage, analytics, marketing, background checks, and operational support.

These providers may collect, process, or store information on SHCTA’s behalf. SHCTA expects vendors and partners to use information only for authorized purposes, protect information appropriately, and comply with applicable privacy and security obligations.

Parents, guardians, students, adult learners, donors, volunteers, and partners should also review the privacy policies of any third party platforms they use.

11. Donors, Sponsors, and Volunteers

SHCTA may collect donor, sponsor, and volunteer information such as name, organization, contact information, giving history, sponsorship interest, volunteer availability, experience, background screening information when applicable, and communication preferences.

Donor and sponsor information may be used to process contributions, issue receipts, provide acknowledgments, recognize support, prepare donor reports, prepare grant reports, maintain nonprofit records, and communicate future opportunities.

Donors and sponsors may request that their support remain anonymous in public facing materials. SHCTA may still maintain internal records and make legally required reports.

Volunteer information may be used to evaluate fit, coordinate assignments, confirm availability, communicate expectations, provide training, maintain safety, and complete screening or compliance steps when applicable.

12. Calls, Emails, and Text Messages

SHCTA may communicate by phone, email, text message, website form, mail, or other methods provided by the individual. Communications may include enrollment updates, program information, safety notices, billing notices, event reminders, donor updates, volunteer coordination, and other SHCTA related messages.

By providing contact information, you authorize SHCTA to contact you for appropriate educational, program, safety, administrative, donor, sponsor, volunteer, or operational purposes. You may ask SHCTA to update your communication preferences or stop non essential communications.

SHCTA does not use public website pages to list personal cellphone numbers for privacy related requests. Privacy questions should be directed to the organization contact listed below.

13. Cookies and Website Tools

Our website may use cookies, analytics tools, embedded forms, plugins, pixels, or similar technologies to support site functionality, understand website traffic, improve visitor experience, measure outreach effectiveness, and support communications.

You can usually adjust your browser settings to limit or block cookies. Some website features may not function properly if cookies are disabled.

SHCTA does not knowingly use website cookies or analytics tools to target advertising to children under 13.

14. Your Choices and Requests

You may contact SHCTA to request access to personal information you submitted, ask for corrections, update communication preferences, unsubscribe from non essential communications, request review of student records, or request deletion of information where appropriate.

Some information may need to be retained for legitimate educational, safety, financial, legal, grant, tax, compliance, audit, contractual, or recordkeeping purposes.

Texas residents and other individuals may have certain rights regarding personal data under applicable privacy laws. Depending on the circumstances, these rights may include the right to access, correct, delete, obtain a copy of, or opt out of certain uses of personal data. SHCTA will review privacy requests and respond as required by applicable law.

Requests involving a minor student should generally be made by the parent or legal guardian unless rights have transferred to the student under applicable law or program rules.

15. Security, Breach Response, and Retention

SHCTA uses reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to help protect personal information from unauthorized access, misuse, loss, disclosure, alteration, or destruction.

No website, email system, database, online platform, or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. We encourage families, students, donors, volunteers, and partners to use caution when sending sensitive information electronically.

If SHCTA becomes aware of a security incident involving personal information, SHCTA will review the incident and take appropriate steps, which may include investigation, containment, vendor coordination, parent or individual notification, regulator notification, and corrective action when required by law.

SHCTA retains information for as long as needed to fulfill the purpose for which it was collected, operate programs, maintain records, comply with legal or funding requirements, resolve disputes, enforce agreements, issue receipts, support audits, protect safety, and protect the organization and the individuals we serve.

16. Third Party Links

Our website may contain links to third party websites, platforms, payment processors, learning systems, partner programs, social media pages, event platforms, forms, or external resources. SHCTA is not responsible for the privacy practices, content, security, or policies of third party websites or platforms.

We encourage users to review the privacy policies of any third party sites or platforms they visit or use.

17. Updates to This Policy

SHCTA may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our programs, website, legal obligations, technology, vendors, partner relationships, or privacy practices. When updates are made, the Last Updated date at the top of this page will be revised.

Continued use of our website or services after changes are posted means you acknowledge the updated policy.