Kirkwood ‘concerned’ about Facebook posts by candidate Kuzela

CEDAR RAPIDS - Kirkwood Community College is calling it concerning that a Cedar Rapids City Council candidate, who once taught at the school, posted educational information about a former student while the two were engaged in an online argument on election night.

Chris Jackson, 27, was enrolled in a pre-algebra class at Kirkwood in fall 2008 taught by Lisa Kuzela, 54, who came in second in Tuesday's at-large race, they both said.

While polls were still open, Jackson and Kuzela rekindled animosity from class in Facebook posts in which The Gazette was tagged.

Kuzela, who has since said she didn't realize the post had been shared to The Gazette, Tuesday evening had accused her former student of taking 'student aid money ... without attending” class, and posted details about Jackson's attendance and quiz grades. The comments have since been deleted.

Jackson immediately questioned whether Kuzela's post violated the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, which protects the privacy of student information.

'My dear, you opened the door to it. It's fair game,” responded Kuzela, who Kirkwood said last taught there in 2009.

Jackson said he plans to file a complaint but had been unable to connect with the appropriate Kirkwood official.

'It's a huge violation of trust,” Jackson said. 'It's not like when you enroll in a class or a school and think, ‘Which one of these teachers might personally vilify me later in life?'”

Kuzela said Thursday that 'I was an adjunct and we were not trained in FERPA. I did not know what it was.”

Kirkwood takes FERPA 'very seriously,” a school spokesman said. FERPA violations can affect funding for institutions receiving federal money and can lead to disciplinary action for employees.

'We are concerned about the alleged comments and urge the individual to contact us to speak about the concerns and determine a course of action,” spokesman Justin Hoehn said, adding: 'Given the concerns about privacy it is inappropriate for us to comment further.”

Staci Hupp, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Education, said, 'Anytime you have a teacher or faculty member sharing a student's academic information, at the very least is a questionable practice.”

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