1. School employees with legitimate educational interests can access student records. For example, at the end of a school year or during the summer, third grade teachers can review the records of second graders who will be in their classes in the fall in order to prepare their lessons and have a sense of student needs. Conversely, third grade teachers are unlikely to have legitimate needs to see the files of children entering seventh grade because they would not be instructing them in official capacities.
Another legitimate reason teachers could need to access former students’ files is to review their contents when asked to write letters of recommendation.
2. Officials representing schools to which students applied for admission for postsecondary education can access their records as long as they or their parents consent that the information can be sent to the receiving institutions.
3. Authorized representatives of the United States Comptroller General, the Secretary of the DOE, plus state and local education officials who are authorized to do so by state law, can view student records for law enforcement purposes.
5. Members of organizations conducting studies on behalf of educational agencies or institutions developing predictive tests or administering aid programs and improving instruction can view records as long as they do not release personal information about students.
In emergencies, persons who protect the health and safety of students or others can view records.
9. Written permission is unnecessary if student records are subpoenaed or otherwise sought via judicial orders, except that school officials must notify parties in advance of their doing so. Prior to ordering the release of information, courts weigh the need for access against the privacy interests of students. FERPA does not forbid educators from disclosing information about registered sex offenders who must register according to federal law.
10. The Secretary of Agriculture or authorized representatives of the Food and Nutrition Service or contractors acting on its behalf, engaging in program monitoring, evaluations, and/or performance measurements of agencies or institutions receiving funding or providing benefits under named federal lunch and nutrition programs for which results are reported in an aggregate form not identifying individuals, can access student files. Moreover, this section requires officials to protect personally identifiable information about students or their parents from disclosure except to the representatives specified earlier in this paragraph. The section further calls for the destruction of personally identifiable data no longer needed for program purposes.
11. Caseworkers or other representatives of various child welfare agencies with access rights to the case plans of the children in their care can review the educational records or the personally identifiable information contained therein as part of their official duties.
Persons accessing files are forbidden from disclosing information except to individuals or entities engaged in addressing the educational needs of the students and are authorized to receive such disclosures as long as the way in which data are released is consistent with applicable law protecting the confidentiality of the underlying records.
Third parties seeking disclosure of student records must have prior written consent from parents or qualified students specifying the record(s) to be released, the reason(s) for the proposed release, to whom the information is being given, and proof they have the right to receive copies of the materials.
Educators must maintain records on individuals or groups, except exempted parties, who request or obtain access to student records, explaining the legitimate interests of those granted access and preserving this information with the records in question.
Educational agencies maintaining student records must comply with requests for review without unnecessary delay. In other words, unless parents or students agree otherwise, officials must grant access not more than 45 days after receiving requests. Nothing prevents officials from granting access to records more quickly, a situation that commonly occurs in smaller school systems where the amounts of records are not as voluminous as in larger districts, especially if hard copy records have not yet been preserved in electronic formats.
Officials receiving requests for access to records cannot charge fees to search for or to retrieve student files. Once materials are located, though, officials can charge for copies as long as doing so does not effectively prevent persons from exercising their rights to inspect and review the records because they are unable to pay such fees.
The third and final column in this short series examines the processes for amending and destroying records along with FERPA’s enforcement provisions and policy recommendations.