FERPA: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

1. FERPA: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) • A Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records, such as report cards, transcripts, disciplinary records, contact and family information, and class schedules.   • Affords parents the right to have access to their children's education records, the right to seek to have the records amended, and the right to have some control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information from the education records. • FERPA generally requires written consent from parents before an education agency can disclose a student’s personally identifiable information to individuals or entities not approved under law. • When a student turns 18 years old, or enters a postsecondary institution at any age, the rights under FERPA transfer from the parents to the student. 20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99

2. FERPA: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act What organizations are subject to FERPA? • FERPA applies to any educational agency or institution to which funds have been made available under any program administered by the Secretary of Education. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act Regulations,34 CFR §99.1, available at http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/pdf/ferparegs.pdf

3. Personally Identifiable Information Personally Identifiable Information (PII) • Central to all discussions about privacy and confidentiality • Refers to information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity • Includes elements such as name, Social Security Number, biometric records, etc. (alone)… • … or when combined with other personal or identifying information which is linked or linkable to a specific individual, such as date of birth, place of birth, mother’s maiden name, etc. OMB Memorandum 07-16, Safeguarding Against and Responding to the Breach of Personally Identifiable Information

4. FERPA: Personally Identifiable Information Personally identifiable information, as defined in FERPA, includes, but is not limited to: • Student’s name • Name of student’s parent or other family members • Address of student or family • Personal identifiers (e.g., SSN, student number, biometric record) • Other indirect identifiers (e.g., place of birth, mother’s maiden name) • Other information linkable to student • Information requested by a person who the educational agency or institution reasonably believes knows the identity of the student to whom the education record relates

5. Directory Information • FERPA allows the public release of some personally identifiable student information as school directory information • “Information that would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed.” • Public notice must be provided. • Parent or the eligible student must be given right to refuse to have any or all of the student’s information released as directory information.

6. Directory Information • Student’s name • Address • Telephone listing • Email address • Photograph • Date and place of birth • Major field of study • Grade level • Enrollment status • Dates of attendance • Participation in activities and sports • Weight and height of members of athletic teams • Degrees, honors and awards received • Most recent educational agency or institution attended

7. Privacy Defined • Privacy relates to individual autonomy and each person’s control over their own information. This includes each person’s right to decide: • when and whether to share personal information • how much information to share • the circumstances under which information can be shared

8. Privacy Defined: FERPA • Under FERPA, privacy pertains to the rights of parents and eligible students to: • inspect and review the students’ education records • seek to amend education records • consent to the release of personally identifiable information • refuse to have personally identifiable information that is designated as directory information publicly released

9. Confidentiality Defined • Confidentiality relates to the management of another individual’s personally identifiable information. • Refers to the obligations of those who receive personal information about an individual to respect the individual’s privacy by safeguarding the information • “An important distinction is that privacy pertains to individuals; confidentiality to their information.” (National Academy of Science 2009 Workshop Protecting Student Privacy and Facilitating Education Research, p. 4)

10. Disclosures of Confidential Information • Under FERPA, disclosure means to permit access to or the release, transfer, or other communication of personally identifiable information contained in education records by any means including oral, written, or electronic, to any party except the party identified or the party that provided or created the record.

11. Disclosures of Confidential Information • Authorized: FERPA authorizes or permits specific users and uses of personally identifiable information in student education records without the written consent of the parent or eligible student. • Unauthorized: personally identifiable information from a student’s education record is made available to a third party who does not have legal authority to access the information. • Inadvertent: information is unintentionally revealed through information releasedto the public.

12. Authorized Disclosures • Other school officials who have legitimate educational interests • Officials of school system or institution where student seeks to enroll • In connection with financial aid • Accrediting organizations • In connection with health or safety emergency • Parents of dependent students • Information designated as directory information

13. Authorized Disclosures (cont.) • Parent of student under age 18 (not enrolled in postsecondary institution) • Eligible student (age 18 or enrolled in postsecondary education) • State and local officials or authorities (under state statute) • Organizations conducting approved studies • Authorized representatives of the Comptroller General; Attorney General; U.S. Department of Education

14. What are parent’s rights under FERPA? • Parents may review and inspect student records. • Parents may request that the school change or amend any part of the record they disagree with. Parents have the right to an appeal if the school disagrees with their request for a change. • Parents have the right to give permission before the school releases information, with some exceptions.

15. What constitutes an “educational record?” • These are records directly related to a student that are maintained by the school. This would include: • Permanent records • EST referrals, notes and plans • IEP records • “Records” under the law do NOT include your notes or lesson plans made for own purposes which are not accessible or revealed to anyone other than a substitute.

16. What have we designated as “directory information?” • “Directory information” may be distributed without consent, as long as parents are notified and allowed to refuse distribution. Directory information is generally not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if released. The primary purpose is to allow publication in some school publications. Our District asks parents about the following: Drama or music programs; yearbook; honor roll or other recognition lists; graduation programs; sports activity sheets showing height and weight.

17. Are there important changes since the No Child Left Behind Act? • Under changes that were put in place under NCLB, the school district needs to have a system in place for transfer disciplinary records with respect to suspension or expulsion. • NCLB also includes a major amendment to the Protection of Pupil Rights Act (formerly known as the Hatch Amendment) that gives parents more rights in regard to surveying students, the collection of information from students for marketing purposes, and non-emergency medical examinations. • Additionally, the law allows for some exceptions in the case of a health or legal emergency. This came about after the Virginia Tech shooting incident. Federal Register explains that this shall be read to mean “related to the threat of an actual, impending, or imminent emergency, such as a terrorist attack, a natural disaster, a campus shooting, or the outbreak of an epidemic..” This can also be in cases of perceived self harm, making emergency medical treatment decisions.”

18. Where can I learn more? • You can view the regulations and related links at: • http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html