Source: https://mainedoenews.net/2012/11/06/district-obligations-under-ferpa-and-ppra/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 22:52:19+00:00

Document:
The U.S. Department of Education is required to notify annually each state educational agency (SEA) and each local educational agency (LEA) of their obligations under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA). This letter serves to provide that notification to the LEA and to provide you general guidance and reference information for each of the laws discussed below.
Statute: 20 U.S.C. § 1232g. Regulations: 34 CFR Part 99.
Consent to the disclosure of personally identifiable information from education records except as specified by law (34 CFR §§ 99.30 and 99.31).
These rights transfer to the student when he or she turns 18 years of age or enters a post-secondary educational institution at any age (“eligible student”). The Family Policy Compliance Office (FPCO) in the Department has issued guidance documents about FERPA for parents and for eligible students. Those documents are available on FPCO’s website: www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/parents.html and www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/students.html.
On Dec. 9, 2008, and again on Dec. 2, 2011, the Department published final regulations in the Federal Register amending the FERPA regulations.
Link to 2011 changes: www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-12-02/pdf/2011-30683.pdf.
The right of parents to file a complaint with the FPCO in the Department.
In addition, LEAs may want to include with their annual notification of rights under FERPA directory information public notices, as discussed below.
The right to opt out of disclosure of directory information.
An LEA or educational institution is not required to have directory information, but most institutions find that it is very useful. Proper designation of directory information permits a school to use directory information to publish items such as yearbooks, graduation announcements, newsletters, or honor roll announcements without having to get written consent from each student’s parent each time information is disclosed for these types of activities.
In 2011, the Department amended the FERPA regulations, making three changes to the directory information provisions.
The definition of “directory information” in § 99.3 was modified to clarify that an educational agency or institution may designate as directory information and non-consensually disclose a student ID number or other unique personal identifier that is displayed on a student ID card or badge if the identifier cannot be used to gain access to education records except when used in conjunction with one or more factors that authenticate the user’s identity, such as a PIN, password or other factor known or possessed only by the authorized user.
Section 99.37(c) was amended to clarify that parents and eligible students may not use their right to opt out of directory information disclosures to prevent an educational agency or institution from requiring students to wear or otherwise disclose student ID cards or badges that display information that may be designated as directory information under § 99.3 and that has been properly designated by the educational agency or institution as directory information under §99.37(a)(1).
A new § 99.37(d) was added to clarify that an educational agency or institution may specify in the public notice concerning directory information that it provides to parents and eligible students in attendance (§ 99.37(a)) that disclosure of directory information will be limited to specific parties, for specific purposes, or both. An LEA or school that adopts a limited directory information policy must limit its directory information disclosures only to those parties and purposes that were specified in the directory information notice.
LEAs must also comply with FERPA’s recordation and redisclosure provisions, set forth in 34 CFR §§ 99.32 and 99.33, except for disclosures that are specifically exempted. In 2008, amendments were made to both of these provisions, including: requiring a state or local educational authority or federal official or agency that rediscloses personally identifiable information from education records to record that disclosure if the educational agency or institution does not do so under § 99.32(b); revising § 99.32(b) to require an educational agency or institution that makes a disclosure in a health or safety emergency to record information concerning the circumstances of the emergency; and amending § 99.33(b) to permit state and local educational authorities and federal officials that receive education records under § 99.31(a)(3) and 99.35 to disclose education records on behalf of educational agencies and institutions in accordance with the longstanding requirements in § 99.33(b), which applied to other parties that receive education records.
The Dec. 9, 2008, final regulations amending FERPA requirements contained helpful recommendations for handling and protecting education records. Seepages 74843-74844 of the Federal Register notice at the following link on our website: www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/finrule/2008-4/120908a.pdf.
Section 4155(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended, 20 U.S.C. § 7165(b), requires that each state that receives funds under the ESEA have “a procedure in place to facilitate the transfer of disciplinary records, with respect to a suspension or expulsion, by local educational agencies to any private or public elementary school or secondary school for any student who is enrolled or seeks, intends, or is instructed to enroll, on a full- or part-time basis, in the school.” Section 99.31(a)(2) of the FERPA regulations provides specifically that an educational agency or institution may disclose education records, without parental consent, to a school in which the student seeks or intends to enroll, subject to conditions set forth in 34 CFR § 99.34. FERPA also allows disclosure of appropriate information regarding specified disciplinary actions to teachers and school officials, including those in other schools, who have legitimate educational interests in the behavior of the student. See 34 CFR § 99.36(b). LEAs should include a notice in their annual notification of rights under FERPA that they forward education records to other schools that have requested the records and in which the student seeks or intends to enroll (34 CFR §§ 99.7, 99.31(a)(2), and 99.34(a)(ii)).
PPRA also concerns marketing surveys and other areas of student privacy, parental access to information and the administration of certain physical examinations to minors. The rights under PPRA transfer from the parents to a student who is 18 years old or an emancipated minor under state law.
The right of parents to inspect, upon request, any instrument used in the collection of personal information for marketing or sales purposes before the instrument is administered or distributed to a student and the LEA’s procedure for granting a parent’s request for such access.
LEAs must notify parents of their rights under PPRA and of these policies at least annually at the beginning of the school year. LEAs must also notify parents within a reasonable period of time if any substantive change is made to the policies. (This notification requirement may be included in the general notification of rights under PPRA.) An LEA is not required to develop and adopt new policies if the SEA or LEA had in place on Jan. 8, 2002, policies covering the requirements set forth in this law. However, the LEA must still provide annual notice of these policies to parents.
Any non-emergency, invasive physical examination or screening that is 1) required as a condition of attendance; 2) administered by the school and scheduled by the school in advance; and 3) not necessary to protect the immediate health and safety of the student, or of other students. This law does not apply to any physical examination or screening that is permitted or required by state law, including physical examinations or screenings permitted without parental notification.
“Instructional Material” – instructional content that is provided to a student, regardless of its format, including printed or representational materials, audio-visual materials, and materials in electronic or digital formats (such as materials accessible through the Internet). The term does not include academic tests or academic assessments.
“Invasive Physical Examination” – any medical examination that involves the exposure of private body parts, or any act during such examination that includes incision, insertion or injection into the body, but does not include a hearing, vision or scoliosis screening.
Informal inquiries may be sent to FPCO via the following email addresses: FERPA@ed.gov and PPRA@ed.gov. The FPCO website is: www.ed.gov/fpco.

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