Source: https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/openrecords/49cornyn/orl/1999/htm/or199901921.htm
Timestamp: 2018-01-17 17:46:11
Document Index: 423036468

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1232', '§ 1232', '§ 1232', '§ 552', '§ 1232', '§ 1232']

Cornyn Open Records Letter Ruling OR99-1921
Mr. Joe B. Hairston
OR99-1921
You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 127646.
The Del Valle Independent School District received a request for the following information pertaining to the graduating classes of 2000, 2001, and 2002: 1) student name, 2) graduating class year, 3) telephone number, 4) address, 5) city, 6) state, and 7) zip code. You assert that the requested information is protected from required public disclosure by sections 552.026 and 552.114 of the Government Code and the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 ("FERPA"), 20 U.S.C. § 1232g.(1)
FERPA provides that no federal funds will be made available under any applicable program to an educational agency or institution that releases personally identifiable information (other than directory information) contained in a student's education records to anyone but certain enumerated federal, state, and local officials and institutions, unless otherwise authorized by the student's parent. See 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(b)(1). Section 552.026 of the Government Code requires the release of information requested under the Public Information Act to conform with FERPA. Under the federal statute, "education records" means those records that contain information directly related to a student and are maintained by an educational agency or institution or by a person acting for such agency or institution. 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(a)(4)(A). Section 552.114 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure, "information in a student record at an educational institution funded wholly or partly by state revenues." Gov't Code § 552.114. This office has generally treated section 552.114 "student record" information as the equivalent of "education record" information that is protected by FERPA. Open Records Decision Nos. 634 at 5 (1995).
FERPA provides that, "directory information" may be released to the public if the institution or agency complies with section 1232g(a)(5)(B) of title 20 of the United States Code. "Directory information" includes the student's name, address, telephone listing, date and place of birth, major field of study, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received, and the most recent previous educational agency or institution attended by the student. 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(a)(5)(A). Section 1232g(a)(5)(B) provides as follows:
20 U.S.C. § 1232g(a)(5)(B). This office has previously held that a class roster is directory information. See Open Records Decision No. 244 (1980). Here, the requested information is similar to a request for a class roster. Accordingly, the district, after complying with federal notice requirements for release of directory information, is required to disclose the information to which no appropriate objection has been filed pursuant to federal law. Id.
Ref:	ID# 127646
cc:	Ms. Gail Stubbs
Tuition OneSource
10 Chameleon Ct.
1. In Open Records Decision No. 634 (1995), this office concluded: (1) an educational agency or institution may withhold from public disclosure information that is protected by FERPA and excepted from required public disclosure by sections 552.026 and 552.101 without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision as to those exceptions, and (2) an educational agency or institution that is state-funded may withhold from public disclosure information that is excepted from required public disclosure by section 552.114 as a "student record," insofar as the "student record" is protected by FERPA, without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision as to that exception.