- January 13, 2026
In lieu of having some district staff members sign non-disclosure agreements when working with confidential information, Volusia County Schools is updating a personnel policy.
Updates to the district's Policy 418 on standards of conduct were presented to the Volusia County School Board during a workshop on Tuesday, Jan. 13. Board members were also informed that the NDAs previously signed by about 110 employees sunsetted in December 2025.
"I'm happy to know that," said School Board member Donna Brosemer, who was a vocal critic of the NDAs last year. "I had understood also that the purpose of this language was to accommodate the concerns that the NDA was intended to address."
Brosemer previously called the district's NDAs "unconstitutional" under Florida's public record laws and submitted a legal opinion to the district on the issue, written by a third-party attorney on her behalf. At that time, the district defended its position, with School Board Attorney Gilbert Evans arguing the NDAs were valid and created to protect the school district from liability.
Policy 418 was last updated in 2002.
The proposed changes include adding two paragraphs. The first states that employees who have a need to access "sensitive and confidential" information are required to "safeguard such information and must not disclose it outside the scope of their official responsibilities." The second paragraph states that failure to comply with the requirements may result in disciplinary action, including termination of employment, and that violations may be subject to civil and criminal penalties.
The only change Brosemer suggested was adding the phrase "as defined by state and federal law" to describe what is sensitive and confidential information. This, she added, would prevent the district in the future from having to make changes to the policy if the law changes.
However, School Board member Jamie Haynes was concerned that adding this definition could create confusion due to the kind of sensitive information concerning schools.
"I want to ensure that we're not going to be risking or leaving open a door for interpretation for someone to share information that's sensitive," Haynes said.
VCS staff attorney Heidi Crimins said such a risk did exist.
"A perfect example would be our safety and security department," she said. "The information that they have is sensitive information handled among staff and then the schools, but it is not technically labeled confidential. But, it is exempt from public records law."
That's why staff didn't define it in the proposed changes, Crimins said.
Brosemer said she understood that what is considered sensitive might be determined by circumstance, but that the state has specific laws about what is confidential.
"We have to have a baseline, and we have to know what that baseline is, and for me, stating it as 'state and federal law' establishes that baseline," she said.
A baseline, she explained, that still allows for a broad interpretation of the policy.
Agreeing with Brosemer, School Board member Krista Goodrich said the suggested changes were broad and covered what they aimed to do with the policy.
"We're trying to make sure that we're protecting what needs to be protected, but not violating Sunshine [Law], or not hiding information," she said.
Brosemer suggested adding the word "applicable" to define state and federal law, which board members agreed with.
VCS is also updating the following policies with minor changes in language:
