NDCEL - The Umbrella

FERPA - Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act
[Go] FERPA Notice Requirements
A FERPA Reminder
The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act has been around for quite some time, but it never hurts to re-familiarize oneself with some of its finer points. For example, a question that often comes up is, can a parent request that material be taken out of their students educational record, or can a parent put material in the students educational record? The short answer is yes or no or maybe.
There is an informal and a formal process in dealing with this question. The informal process is a simple request to the principal who will make a decision about whether to remove or place material out of or into the record. That decision stands unless the parent or eligible student (a student over 18) doesn’t like or isn’t satisfied with the decision. Then the formal process takes place.
FERPA outlines a formal hearing procedure for dealing with a parental request regarding their student’s educational records. Here is the process:
	1. A hearing should take place in a reasonable amount of time after the request is made.
	2. The parent/eligible student should receive a notice of the time, place, and date of the hearing.
	3. Anyone can conduct the hearing, but is should be someone without a direct interest in the outcome. Maybe an administrative hearing officer.
	4. The parent/eligible student must be given a full and fair opportunity to present evidence and to have representation at the hearing.
	5. The administrator must make a decision and provide it to the parent/eligible student in a reasonable time after the hearing.
	6. The decision must be based solely on evidence presented at the hearing and must include a summary of the evidence and the reasons for the decision.
	7. If the decision is to amend the record, the school must provide the parent/eligible student with a written notification of the amendment or if not amended, the parent/eligible students may insert a written statement into the record contesting the information contained in the students educational record.
FERPA Notice Requirements
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) was enacted to protect student educational records from being released without prior consent by a parent or an eligible student (one over 18). One of the issues that commonly comes up in public schools is in regard to disclosing personally identifiable student information—what can you release without prior consent and what needs prior consent?
The NASSP publication in the Spring of 2001, entitled A Legal Memorandum provides some valuable insights. For example, directory information may be released without prior consent if the information is defined and parents have been notified about their right to opt out of the directory information exception. So what is directory information? The legal counsel at NASSP defines it this way:
	“Directory information may include a student’s name, address, phone number, birth date, e-mail address, class schedule, height, weight, dates of attendance, honors and awards, clubs and teams to which the student belongs, and pictures of the student participating in school events. Directory information does not include grades and GPA, social security number, student ID number, race gender, or ethnicity.”
	Schools that want to be able to release directory information without prior consent must notify parents every year what their rights are and what the school will consider to be directory information. The parents, after receiving notice, must opt out either on individual items or on all items if they do not want this information released without their consent. The school can provide this notice to parents via their school’s website, student handbooks, by first class mail, or with registration material.
A sample notice to parents and eligible students might look like the following:
Dear Parent and Eligible Students,
The purpose of this notice is to provide you with information regarding your rights under the Family Education and Privacy Act (FERPA). Parents of students or students who are at least 18 years old and wish to review any or all of the school records pertaining to the student should contact the building principal for an appointment. The records will be reviewed with school personnel and parents may have copies of the records for the cost of the copying. If parents or adult students believe something in the records is inaccurate or misleading, they may request that it be corrected or they may have comments added to the record. If the principal and the parent or adult student cannot agree, the latter may contact the superintendent for a hearing.
FERPA also allows a school district to identify certain information as “directory information” which may be released without prior consent by parents or an adult student. The _______ Public Schools consider the following to be directory information: (this is where you would list what you consider to be directory information)
If you DO NOT want this information released without consent, please complete the enclosed form and return it within ten (10) days. If we do not receive your notice by that date, we will consider this to mean that you have no objection to the release of this information.
Sample Form to Be Returned
TO: Principal of _________________ School
I DO NOT wish directory information, as defined by ________Public School concerning my child to be released without my prior written consent. I understand that this will exclude my child’s name from parent organization mailing lists, school annual and newspaper, commencement programs, honor rolls, athletics, and other information about students in the public media.
Child’s Name:______________________________________________ Parent Signature___________________________________________ Date _________________________
If further information is needed regarding your school districts obligations under FERPA, please do not hesitate to call the NDCEL at 258-3022 or email the Executive Director.