FERPA Defines an Education Record

 

     Education records include a range of information about a student that is maintained in schools in any recorded way, such as handwriting, print, computer media, video or audio tape, film, microfilm, and microfiche.

Examples are:

 

• Date and place of birth, parent(s) and/or guardian addresses, and where parents can be contacted in emergencies;

• Grades, test scores, courses taken, academic specializations and activities, and official letters regarding a student's status in school;

• Special education records;

• Disciplinary records;

• Medical and health records that the school creates or collects and maintains;

• Documentation of attendance, schools attended, courses taken, awards conferred, and degrees earned;

• Personal information such as a student's identification code, social security number,picture, or other information that would make it easy to identify or locate a student.

 

 

FERPA Guarantees Parent Review and Appeal

 

     If, upon review, parents find an education record is inaccurate or misleading, they may request changes or corrections, and schools and education agencies must respond promptly to these requests.

Requests should be made in writing, according to an agency's annual notice of procedures for exercising rights to amend records. Within a reasonable time period, the school or agency must decide if the request to change a record is consistent with its own assessment of the accuracy of the record. If a parent's request is denied, he or she must be offered the opportunity for a hearing. If the disagreement with the record continues after the hearing, the parent may insert an explanation of the objection in the record. FERPA's provisions do not apply to grades and educational decisions about children that school personnel make.

While parents have a right to review records, schools are not required by Federal law to provide copies of information, unless providing copies would be the only way of giving parents access. Schools may charge a reasonable fee for obtaining records, and they may not destroy records if a request for access is pending.

 

FERPA Restricts Disclosure of Student Records

 

     Local education agencies and schools may release information from students' education records with the prior written consent of parents, under limited conditions specified by law, or as stated in local agencies' student records policies. The same rules restricting disclosures apply to records maintained by third parties acting on behalf of schools, such as state and local education agencies, intermediate administrative units, researchers, psychologists, or medical practitioners who work for or are under contract to schools.

     If an education agency or a school district has a policy of disclosing records, it must specify the criteria for determining school officials within an agency, including teachers, who have a legitimate educational interest. Generally, school officials have legitimate educational interest if they need to review an education record to fulfill their professional responsibilities.

     Teachers and school officials who work with the students and schools to which students apply for entrance may also have access to education records without prior consent of the parent. In addition, information from students' records may be released to state and local education officials to conduct audits or to review records in compliance with Federal laws. Schools may also disclose information from education records without the consent of parents in response to subpoenas or court orders. A school official must make a reasonable effort to notify the parent before complying with the subpoena unless the subpoena is issued to enforce a law and specifies not to notify the parent. In emergencies, school officials can provide information from education records to protect the health or safety of the student or others.

     There are cases when schools or school systems decide it is in the public interest to participate in policy evaluations or research studies. If student records are to be released for these purposes, the school or school system must obtain prior consent of the parent. Signed and dated written consent must:

• Specify the records that will be released;

• State the reason for releasing the records;

• Identify the groups or individuals who will receive the records.

 

    In general, information about each request for records access and each disclosure of information from an education record must be maintained as part of the record until the school or agency destroys the education record. Outside parties receiving records must receive a written explanation of the restrictions on the re-release of information.

 

Additional FERPA Provisions

 

In 1994, the Improving America's Schools Act amended several components of FERPA, tightening privacy assurances for students and families. The amendments apply to the following key areas:

• Parents have the right to review the education records of their children maintained by state education agencies;

• Any third party that inappropriately re-releases personally identifiable information from an education record cannot have access to education records for five years;

• Information about disciplinary actions taken against students may be shared, without prior consent of the parent, with officials in other education institutions;

• Schools may release records in compliance with certain law enforcement judicial orders and subpoenas without notifying parents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FERPA and Special Education Records

 

     In addition to the requirements of FERPA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides additional privacy protections for students who are receiving special education and related services.

     In addition to the FERPA provisions and IDEA-specific provisions that restate the FERPA requirements, the IDEA regulations also include some additional protections tailored to special confidentiality concerns for children with disabilities and their families. Public agencies must inform parents of children with disabilities when information is no longer needed and, except for certain permanent record information, that information must be destroyed at the request of the parents (34 CFR 300.573). If a state transfers the IDEA rights of parents to children at the age of majority, the parents’ rights under the IDEA regarding educational records also transfer, but the public agency must provide any notice required under the due process procedures of the IDEA to both the student and the parent (34 CFR 300.574). The state education agency must give public notice about the collection of personally identifiable information in the state and a summary of the policies and procedures that public agencies must follow regarding storage, disclosure to third parties, and retention and destruction of personally identifiable information (34 CFR 300.561). Each public agency must have one official who is responsible for ensuring the confidentiality of any personally identifiable information, must train all persons who are collecting or using personally identifiable information regarding the state’s policies about confidentiality and FERPA, and must maintain for public inspection a current listing of the names and positions of individuals within the agency who have access to personally identifiable information (34 CFR 300.572).

     The provisions of FERPA apply to all students receiving special education and related services under the IDEA. In addition, FERPA serves as the foundation for the additional confidentiality provisions of Part B of the IDEA at 34 CFR 300.560–300.577. Moreover, Congress has stressed that the FERPA provisions apply under the IDEA.