Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, eligible students and parents have a right to privacy for student records. Students and parents must be able to access their records, and certain information within their records cannot be shared without written consent. There is a fine line between student information that can and cannot be shared, and school districts must take care to walk the right side of that line.
A student record usually contains information such as:
● Name
● Address
● Phone number
● Parent /guardian contact information
● Grades and test scores
● Health and immunization records
● Courses taken
● Awards and degrees earned
● Special education records (including Individualized Education Programs)
Besides name, address, phone number, and awards and degrees, this information cannot be shared without specific written consent.
A parent or a student over 18 legally has access to this information at any time, but this information can only be viewed by a legitimate school official in certain situations. For example, if there is a health or safety emergency, a school official may need to access a students medical records to provide adequate treatment. However, if accessing a record is seen as an unnecessary violation of privacy, then it is a violation of FERPA.
Directory information, on the other hand, is information that can be released without explicit consent from a student or parent. Though this information can be released without consent, the student or parent must be notified and given adequate time to object. Directory information is basic information that is included on things like playbills, yearbooks, honor roll listings, graduation programs, and sports rosters. It may include:
● The students name
● Address
● Phone number
● Email address
● Photo
● Date and place of birth
● Course of study or major
● Attendance dates
● Grade level
● Participation in sports and other clubs/activities
● Weight and height on a sports roster
● Degrees/honors received
● Personal Identification numbers or student identification numbers, as long as those numbers cannot be used to log into a portal to view student information
All of this information can be plausibly released without explicit consent, but it is the district’s job to ensure that any information released is directory information unless consent is given. Failure to comply with FERPA can lead to federal funds withdrawn from the school, lawsuits from students and parents, monetary penalties issued by the state, and a damaged reputation as an institution.
The main difference between private student information and directory information is the depth of the information involved. Directory information is information that essentially can be found in a phonebook, playbill, or other public document, while private information is information that, if read, could be considered an invasion of privacy. While much of it is a common-sense approach, it is vital for districts to know, and to know well, what differentiates these two types of information.
With the latest technology in data capture, optical character recognition (OCR), and enterprise content management (ECM), Datamation can quickly and accurately capture your information and automatically classify it according to the content. This makes compliance with both FERPA and FOIA nearly effortless, as it has the capability of separating private information from directory information. This ensures that your district is compliant, each and every year.
Datamation has the skill and the experience to assist your district not only in making records accessible to students and parents, but also in making sure those records are as secure as possible. Where compliance is concerned, controls can be set by the district itself that determine the storage, mailing, and management of student records that make it easier on the district in general to maintain organization and comply with FERPA, FOIA, and more.
