West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 126 - Education › Title 126 - LEGISLATIVE RULE BOARD OF EDUCATION › Series 126-094 - Procedures for the Collection, Maintenance, and Disclosure of Student Data (4350) › Section 126-94-16 - Disclosure of Student Education Records to Certain Parties

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
16.1. Any and all public reports and/or
				releases of student data when necessary to fulfill the requirements of state
				and/or federal laws, rules, and regulations will be presented in
				aggregate.
16.2. Student education
				records will never be authorized to be sold. Counties may authorize the release
				of limited directory information as defined in section 4.1.d for local
				fundraising efforts such as yearbooks, athletic programs, theater bills, and
				similar efforts, pursuant to the provisions of section 25.3, et seq., regarding
				parent and eligible student refusals.
16.3. Student education records, including
				personally identifiable information, will not be shared with any federal
				government agency. Pursuant to the requirements of section 23, limited
				information may be provided to offices in specific situations to comply with
				federal audits or evaluations of federal- or state-supported education
				programs, for the enforcement of or compliance with federal legal requirements
				which relate to these programs, or to provide for the health/safety needs of
				students.
16.4. The WVDE may grant
				research requests for educational purposes, given the following circumstances.
16.4.a. Research is to be conducted in
				collaboration with WVDE with the understanding that WVDE does not provide
				authorization for research on behalf of individual counties.
16.4.b. Researchers must complete research
				proposal applications pursuant to the WVDE's defined process.
16.4.c. The WVDE Research Review Committee
				will review all requests and grant approval only if all four of the following
				criteria are satisfied:
16.4.c.1. the proposed
				research study meets specific criteria related to scientific merit and
				feasibility;
16.4.c.2. the proposed
				research study is research the WVDE would have otherwise conducted
				itself;
16.4.c.3. appropriate
				privacy, confidentiality, and security are ensured throughout the proposed
				research plan; and
16.4.c.4. all
				necessary legal documentation is signed and in place prior to the start of any
				work.
16.4.d. All
				researchers authorized to conduct studies on behalf of the WVDE must sign a
				comprehensive Data Disclosure Agreement that embodies the relevant conditions,
				limitations, requirements, and security considerations.
16.4.e. The Data Disclosure Agreement is a
				legally binding document that authorizes the researcher, as an agent of the
				WVDE, to conduct research on its behalf and which:
a) details the researcher's responsibilities
				with respect to protecting the privacy of the students or staff whose
				information are being provided as part of the study;
b) includes a signed Acknowledgement of
				Confidentiality Requirements for all individuals who will have access to the
				data provided;
c) is an assurance
				from the researcher that they will not use, reveal, or in any other manner
				disclose any personally identifiable information furnished, acquired,
				retrieved, derived, or assembled by themselves or others for any purpose other
				than those purposes specified in the Research Proposal Application for the
				research project; and
d) is an
				assurance that the researcher must and will comply with FERPA and these
				procedures.
16.4.f. The
				release of student data to researchers outside the agency is considered a loan
				of data (i.e., the recipients do not have ownership of the data).
16.4.g. Researchers are required to validate
				destruction of the data through the submission of the WVDE Data Destruction
				Assurance Form once the research is completed as part of their signed legal
				agreements.