Washington Administrative Code › Title 495B - Bellingham Technical College › Chapter 495B-280 - Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act › Section 495B-280-080 - Requests for corrections, hearings, adding statements to education records

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
Students have the right to request to have records corrected
				that they believe are inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of their privacy
				rights. Following are the procedures for the correction of records:
(1) A student must submit a written request
			 to amend their education record to the appropriate college official responsible
			 for the custody of the record as designated in WAC 495B-280-110. The request
			 must identify the part of the record they want changed and specify why the
			 record is believed to be inaccurate, misleading or in violation of their
			 privacy or other rights.
(2) A
			 student whose request for amendment of their education record has been denied
			 may request a hearing by submitting a written request to the vice president of
			 student services within 10 days following the denial. The written request must
			 be signed by the student and shall indicate the reasons why the records should
			 be amended. The vice president of student services or designee shall notify the
			 student of the hearing within 30 days after receipt of a properly filed
			 request. In no case will the notification be less than 10 days in advance of
			 the date, time and place of the hearing.
(3) The hearing shall be a brief adjudicative
			 proceeding as provided in RCW   34.05.482 and 34.05.485 through 34.05.494 and
			 shall be conducted by the student services or other appropriate committee (the
			 chair of the committee shall be an official of the college who does not have a
			 direct interest in the outcome of the hearing). At the hearing, the student
			 shall be afforded a full and fair opportunity to present evidence relevant to
			 the issues raised in the original request to amend the student's education
			 records. The student may be assisted by one or more individuals, including an
			 attorney.
(4) The student services
			 or other appropriate committee will prepare a written decision, within 30 days
			 after the conclusion of the hearing, based solely on the evidence presented at
			 the hearing. The rules of evidence need not be applied at the hearing. The
			 decision will include a summary of the evidence presented and the reasons for
			 the decision. A copy of the decision shall be made available to the
			 student.
(5) If the student
			 services or other appropriate committee decides the information is inaccurate,
			 misleading, or in violation of the student's right of privacy, the custodian of
			 the record will amend the record and notify the student, in writing, that the
			 record has been amended.
(6) If the
			 student services or other appropriate committee decides that the challenged
			 information is not inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of the student's
			 right of privacy, the committee will notify the student in writing that the
			 student has a right to place in the record a rebuttal statement commenting on
			 the challenged information and/or a statement setting forth reasons for
			 disagreeing with the decision.
(7)
			 The student's rebuttal statement will be maintained as part of the student's
			 education records as long as the contested portion is maintained. If the
			 contested portion of the education record is disclosed, the statement will also
			 be disclosed.
Statutory Authority:
				  RCW
				   28B.10.140,
				  42.30.075 and
				  chapter
				  34.05 RCW. 93-05-018,
				  §
										495B-280-080, filed 2/10/93,
				  effective 3/13/93.