FERPA Basics
The acronym for the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
What is FERPA?
Information directly related to a student and maintained by the institution or a party representing the institution.
What are educational records.
The thing a school needs in order to release a student's educational record
The student's / guardian's written consent?
Grades posted on a faculty office door.
What is nope?
Monica enrolls in college and begins attending class. She signs a consent form permitting her parents to have access to her educational records. Later, her parents reach out to the registrar’s office and requests access to her transcripts. The registrar’s office successfully authenticates her parent’s identity but still refuses to provide the information to the parents. Is this ok? What does the school have to do? What does it not have to do?
When a child turns 18 or enters a postsecondary institution at any age the rights under FERPA transfer to the eligible student.
• If a student is claimed as a dependent by either parent for tax purposes, then a parent is permitted to have access. The disclosure is not compelled.
• This permutation of FERPA causes some parents some consternation
This, when not printed and put in a file is not subject to FERPA
What is "email"?
Includes information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual's identity either directly or indirectly through linkages with other information.
What is Personally Identifiable Information (PII)?
Under FERPA, all students have the right to do this to their educational records at any time.
What is the right to inspect and review?
T/F Records that are directly related to a student and are maintained by the school are educational records?
What is TRUE
Mary is a Database administrator for the school
district. Part of her job requires doing system updates for the Student Information system, as such she has full administrative access to the SIS. Her sister Beth’s children all go to the school district. Recently, her nephew gets into a fight and winds up getting suspended. Her nephew refuses to talk about the incident and won’t tell his parents who he got into a fight with. Frustrated, Beth calls Mary and asks her to look up in the system to see if she can find out who the fight was with. Mary goes into the SIS and finds the discipline incident report for the fight and lets Beth know the name of the child her nephew had fought with. Beth then calls that child’s parents up to discuss the
incident. Is what Mary did ok?
Uhhh. no.
Documents in the cumulative folder relating to grades, enrollment, health
What is an Educational Record?
Information defined by the institution that can be released to anyone without permission of the student.
What is directory information?
Under FERPA, schools must identify a list of directory information. Students / guardians have this particular ability with regard to directory info . . .
What is the right to restrict the school from releasing any directory information about them?
Sam is a recent graduate of your high school. After his graduation he comes to the main office and requests a copy of his official transcript. You notice that he owes several hundred dollars in unpaid fees and refuse him access. He states that refusal to honor his request is a FERPA violation. What do you do?
Under FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act), Sam is correct that he has the right to access his educational records, including his transcript. FERPA does not permit schools to withhold access to a student’s records due to unpaid fees.
Here’s what you should do:
When videos / photos are directly related to a student. Which means they are:
• Used for disciplinary action or other official purposes
• Depictions of activities that:
1. Resulted in disciplinary action
2. Shows a violation of the law
3. Shows an occurrence of student injury, attack, illness or health emergency
• Intent to make a specific student the subject • Audio or visual record contains content that
includes PII from a student’s education record.
When are videos and photos an Educational Record?
Educational Record or not?
Records kept in the sole possession of the maker of the record and not revealed to anyone but a temporary substitute, e.g., personal notes. (Memory joggers)
Not
Grade reports, transcripts, and disciplinary files
What are educational records?
What students / guardians may do if it appears that there is misleading or inaccurate information in some part of their educational records?
What is amend their education record?
The local newspaper is conducting research for a feature article on the increase in student suicides in the local community. The reporter approaches you with a list of student suicides over the past 5 years and requests academic and mental health records of the students.
FERPA no longer applies after death, but schools are not required to release such information and should act with caution and seek parental consent or guidance from legal counsel before disclosing any records.
Jack and Diane, two young people from a small town in Iowa, fall in love and get married. After 10 years, and two kids, they grow apart and get divorced. Jack moves to California and Diane stays in her small town, gets remarried and has sole custody of the kids.
Concerned about how his children are doing, Jack asks for access to his children’s education records. Knowing that he doesn’t live with his children the school denies the request. Did the school do the right thing?
Divorce/Custody Issues are hard
• Schools are often caught in the middle.
• FERPA affords rights to both the custodial and non-custodial parent
Educational Record or Not?
Records created and maintained by a law enforcement unit for a law enforcement purpose.
Not
IEPS & 504s
What are Educational Records?
FERPA ends for a student upon this tragic, but inevitable for all, event.
What is upon their death?
Information not normally considered a violation of a persons privacy is called ?
What is Directory Information?
Mr. Spencer is a parent volunteer in your resource classroom for students with learning disabilities. He also has a child with a disability enrolled in the school, but not in your class. Mr. Spencer’s assignment is to work with a small group of students on math skills. You provide him with the math achievement scores, classroom test reports and other math related information from the special education records of each individual student he is assisting.
Is it permissible for you to share the individual math test scores and other related information with Mr. Spencer without the consent or knowledge of the parents of the students?
No, it is not permissible for you to share individual student math test scores and other related information with Mr. Spencer without parental consent.