Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) Notice

FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL POLICIES

CONCERNING STUDENTS’ SPECIAL EDUCATION RECORDS

The Sevier County School System hereby informs parents and eligible students of the rights, which they have pursuant to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Eligible students are those students who are 18 years of age or older. Parents and eligible students shall have the following rights:

The right to inspect and review the student’s educational record.
The right to seek to correct the student’s educational record which he or she believes to be inaccurate, misleading or in violation of the student’s rights, according to the procedures specified below.
The right to exercise limited control over a third party’s access to the student’s educational records by requiring written consent of the parent or eligible student prior to the release of educational records.
The right to file a complaint with the United States Department of Education if the district violates the FERPA.
The right to obtain a copy of this policy
The right to request and to receive a translation of this policy in the native language of the parents or eligible student.

If a parent or eligible student believes that the student’s educational records are inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise inappropriate, the parent or eligible student shall request a hearing with the appropriate administrator. At such a hearing, the parent or eligible student may submit appropriate, relevant material such as results of testing and evaluations, medical or psychological reports, and/or explanations of unfavorable material appearing in the record. If the parent or eligible student and the administrator cannot agree as to the content of the student’s educational records, the parent or eligible student may request in writing a hearing before the Superintendent. The Superintendent shall hold such hearing within 10 days of receipt of the written request for a hearing. The parent or eligible student shall have a full and fair opportunity to present appropriate and relevant evidence and to hear evidence in support of the material that is being challenged. The Superintendent shall render a written decision within 10 days of the hearing, and such decision shall be final. Prior written consent of the parent or eligible student shall be required for any release of information in a student’s educational record except for release of information.

To district officials, including teachers, who have a legitimate educational interest in the student.
To officials of the United States General Accounting Office, the United States Department of Education, and the Tennessee Department of Education who need specific data to evaluate federal programs or enforce federal laws.
To anyone from whom the student has received financial aid or to whom the student has made application for financial aid.
To any accrediting institution
To any testing and research organization such as Educational Testing Service as long as confidentiality is maintained and the information is destroyed after it is no longer needed.
To any person possessing a valid search warrant, court order, or subpoena
To medical personnel, city, county, state, and federal agencies in any emergency situation if common sense dictates that the release of the information is urgently needed to protect someone’s health or safety.
In accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the Tennessee Department of Education pursuant to the Tennessee Code Annotated. Pursuant to the release of directory information as defined below.

The System designates the following personally identifiable information contained in a student’s educational record as directory information:

The student’s name
The names of the student’s parents
The student’s date of birth
The student’s class designation (i.e. 1st grade, 10th grade, etc.)
The student’s extra-curricular participation
The student’s achievements, awards and honors
The student’s weight and height if a member of an athletic team

Parents and/or students have the right to request that directory information be withheld by submitting a written request for withholding to the Superintendent or his or her designee prior to the beginning of classes in the fall semester. The failure to submit a request for withholding shall be considered consent for the release of directory information.

Current Special Education records are maintained in the school building where services are provided to the student. All files are kept in a secure place (locked file cabinet) and access to the files is limited.

Psychological records and inactive IEP folders are maintained in the Office of Special Education. Sevier County complies with the policy of the Tennessee State Department of Education; Division of Special Education, in matters of retention and destruction of records as expressed in a memorandum dated April 30, 2001:

When must a school district destroy a disabled student’s records?

This is an important administrative question because student records may contain test results, evaluations, past IEPs, correspondence, due process hearing transcripts, IEP meeting minutes, and teacher-produced anecdotal records, etc.

The governing authority is found at 34 C.F.R. Section 300.573.

300.573 Destruction of information.

(a) The public agency shall inform parents when personally identifiable information collected, maintained, or used under this part is no longer needed to provide educational services to the child.

(b) The information must be destroyed at the request of the parents. However, a permanent record of a student’s name, address, and phone number, his or her grades, attendance record, classes attended, grade level completed, and year completed may be maintained without time limitation.

Subpart (a) requires schools to notify parents when materials in the student’s record are deemed no longer necessary to provide appropriate services. In other words, schools may begin the removal of surplus materials any time that the information is judged to be of no value to the design or implementation of the child’s educational program.

Subpart (b) requires that schools destroy such personally identifying but unnecessary records upon the parents’ request. In short, when records are declared surplus, they must be destroyed when the child’s parents ask that this be done. However, school districts may retain a permanent record of the “student’s name, address, and phone number, his or her grades, attendance records, classes attended, grade level completed, and year completed…” even if the parents request that the entire student record be destroyed. Best practice would be to retain the above listed information in perpetuity.

34 C.F.R. 300.560 defines destruction as “physical destruction or removal of personal identifies from the information so that the information is no longer personally identifiable.”

Must a school district keep student records for a specific time period?

Schools receiving federal funds are required to keep for three (3) years records necessary to show their compliance with federal and state mandates, (34 C.F.R. Section 76,730, financial records, and Section 76,731, program compliance requirement, Section 80.42, retention and access requirements for records).

Under previous law, (34 C.F.R. Section 76.734 abrogated) the required retention period was five (5) years. This regulation was the basis of several OSEP policy letters contributing to a continued confusion about the required retention period.

How may a school district keep records for three (3) years, as stated above, and still comply with a parent’s request to destroy personally identifiable information that is no longer needed to provide educational services to their child?

The school district may remove any reference, which makes the information personally identifiable while still maintaining the records proving compliance with state and federal programs, 34 C.F.R. 300.560.