Policy Tool | District Policies

5200-ANotification of Rights Under FERPA for Elementary and Secondary Institutions

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Appendix A

 

Model Notification of Rights

Under FERPA for Elementary and Secondary Institutions

[NOTE:  Under the procedures outlined in the policy, the following information will be disclosed on an annual basis to parents of students currently in attendance, or eligible students currently in attendance.]

 

            The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, et seq., affords parents and eligible students (i.e., students over 18, emancipated minors, and those attending post-secondary educational institutions) certain rights with respect to the student’s education records.  They are:

            (1)       The right to inspect and review the student’s education records within forty-five (45) calendar days of the day the District receives a request for access.

 

Parents or eligible students should submit to the school principal [or appropriate school official] a written request that identifies the record(s) they wish to inspect.  The principal [or appropriate school official] will make arrangements for access and notify the parents or eligible student of the time and place where the records may be inspected.

            (2)       The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records that the parents or eligible student believe are inaccurate or misleading, or otherwise violate the student’s privacy rights.

            Parents or eligible students who wish to ask the District to amend a record should write the school principal [or appropriate school official], clearly identify the part of the record the parents or eligible student want changed, and specify why it should be changed.

            If the District decides not to amend the record as requested by the parents or eligible student, the District will notify the parents or eligible student of the decision and advise them of their right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment.  Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the parents or eligible student when notified of the right to a hearing.

            (3)       The right to privacy of personally identifiable information in the student’s education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.

            One exception that permits disclosure without consent is disclosure to a school official with legitimate interests.  A school official is a person employed by the District as an administrator, supervisor, instructor or support staff member (including health or medical staff and law enforcement unit personnel); a person serving on the Board of Education; a person or company with whom the District has outsourced services or functions it would otherwise use its own employees to perform (such as an attorney, auditor, medical consultant, or therapist); or a parent or student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee; or a parent, student, or other volunteer assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks.  A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility.

            Upon request, the District discloses a student’s education record without consent to officials of another school, including other public schools, charter schools, and post-secondary institutions, in which the student seeks or intends to enroll, or is already enrolled if the disclosure is for purposes of the student’s enrollment or transfer. Further, and in accordance with state and federal law and guidance, the District may disclose education records to another school for enrollment purposes, which may include exploration of educational placement options by the District or educational placement decisions made by a planning and placement or Section 504 team, or in order to explore placement options for the provision of alternative educational opportunities.

            (4)       The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the District to comply with the requirements of FERPA.  The name and address of the office that administers FERPA is:

 

            Family Policy Compliance Office

            U.S. Department of Education

            400 Maryland Avenue, S.W.

            Washington, DC 20202-8520

 

            [Note:  In addition, a school district may want to include a directory information public notice, as required by the regulations, 34 CFR § 99.37, with its annual notification of rights under FERPA.  The following two paragraphs are recommended for inclusion and must be included in the annual notification if the school district wants to be able to disclose “Directory Information” under II.B of the Student Records Policy:]

Unless notified in writing by a parent or eligible student to the contrary within two weeks of the date of this notice, the school district will be permitted to disclose “Directory Information” concerning a student, without the consent of a parent or eligible student.  Directory Information includes information contained in an education record of a student that would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed.  It includes, but is not limited to, the parent’s name, address and/or e-mail address, the student’s name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, photographic, computer and/or video images, date and place of birth, major field(s) of study, grade level, enrollment status (full-time; part-time), participation in school-sponsored activities or athletics, weight and height (if the student is a member of an athletic team), dates of attendance, degrees, honors and awards received, the most recent previous school(s) attended and student identification numbers for the limited purposes of displaying a student identification card.  The student identification number, however, will not be the only identifier used when obtaining access to education records or data.  Directory information does not include a student’s social security number, student identification number or other unique personal identifier used by the student for purposes of accessing or communicating in electronic systems unless the identifier cannot be used to gain access to education records except when used in conjunction with one or more factors that authenticate the user’s identity, such as a PIN or password.

The school district may disclose directory information about students after they are no longer in enrollment in the school district.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, the district will continue to honor any valid objection to the disclosure of directory information made while a student was in attendance unless the student rescinds the objection.

An objection to the disclosure of directory information shall not prevent the school district from disclosing or requiring a student to disclose the student’s name, identified or institutional email address in a class in which the student is enrolled.  Parents and/or eligible students may not use the right to opt out of directory information disclosures to prohibit the school district from requiring students to wear or display a student identification card.

The written objection to the disclosure of directory information shall be good for only one school year.  School districts are legally obligated to provide military recruiters and institutions of higher learning, upon request, with the names, addresses and telephone numbers of secondary school students, unless the secondary student or the parent of the student objects to such disclosure in writing.  Such objection shall be in writing and shall be effective for one school year.  In all other circumstances, information designated as directory information will not be released when requested by a third party unless the release of such information is determined by the administration to be in the educational interest of the school district and is consistent with the district’s obligations under both state and federal law.

 

4/20/2021

 

Previous Policy Number: IJ-R