Student Privacy and Discipline Question & Answer

Schools are limited in their ability to share specific details about incidents involving students due to privacy laws like FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) and IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), as well as district policies. FERPA, for instance, is a federal law designed to protect the privacy of student education records. Under FERPA, schools are restricted from sharing personally identifiable information from a student's records without written consent from the parent or eligible student. IDEA also imposes additional privacy requirements for students with disabilities, further limiting the type of information schools can disclose publicly.

District policies reinforce these federal regulations, prioritizing student privacy and limiting information that can be shared with the public. For example, local policies and procedures restrict the release of photographs, recordings, and other identifiable student information without consent. These policies ensure that student privacy is safeguarded in alignment with federal requirements and community expectations, allowing schools to protect sensitive information while maintaining transparency within the boundaries of the law.

References:

·       Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

·       Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

·       3231 Procedure – Student Records

·       4001 Policy – Communications and Community Relations Program

·       4011 Policy and Procedure - Photographing, Recording Students and Sharing Student Information

·       4020 Policy – Confidential Communications

Discipline means any action taken by a school and/or district in response to behavioral violations, including exclusionary, positive and supportive forms of discipline. Policy 3241 and Procedure 3241 are intended to be implemented in a manner that supports positive school climate, maximizes instructional time, and increases equitable educational opportunities. 

Any student’s discipline information is part of their education records, which are protected under federal privacy law. With rare exception, education records are only available to the student themself, their parents/guardians (if the student is younger than 18) and some school officials.

While we wouldn’t share a specific student’s discipline outcomes with someone who wasn’t their parent/guardian, we can share our approach and steps we take in discipline situations, as well as our district policies.

When an individual is engaged in unsafe behavior at school, we take it seriously and act accordingly to ensure students and staff are safe and learning can continue.

This may include a temporary removal of the student to allow the school/district and family to develop a plan for that student to safely return to school.

Using a threat assessment protocol, the team determines if there is a need for a formalized safety plan, which could include one or more of the following:

• daily check in/check out with the office
• backpacks stay in the office
• weekly family check in meetings
• alternative recess
• restorative conversations
• support from the counselor or district mental health specialist

In extreme situations, a student could be permanently expelled from school.

You can also see two district policies that provide guidance in these situations: Policy 3241 student discipline and Policy 3225 School-Based Threat Assessment.

We value sharing student achievement and recognizing students’ efforts across our district. In order to balance this value while maintaining student privacy, we follow our procedure 4011. If a family signs the “opt-out” form at any point during the school year, we avoid including the student’s name and photo in promotional materials.

When something happens like a student death at a school, we work closely with our principal and mobile response team (MRT) to ensure we are sharing information thoughtfully and legally.

The MRT has counselors and other trained staff who work across our district. When there is a tragedy, they are temporarily assigned to the affected school to help support grieving students and staff.

We follow a protocol which includes asking a family's permission to share information about the death with staff, students and families. Typically, that information is limited to only the school community. If there is media interest, we would defer the reporter to the family.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords parents/guardians and students over 18 years of age (“eligible students”) certain rights with respect to the student’s education records. They are: ​

1. The right to inspect and review the student’s education records within 45 days of the day the district receives a request for access. Parents/guardians or eligible students should submit a written request to the district records custodian that identifies the record(s) they wish to inspect. The records custodian will arrange for access and notify the parent/guardian or eligible student of the time and place they may inspect the records.
2. The right to request amendments to the student’s education records that the parent/guardian or eligible student believes to be inaccurate or misleading. Parent/guardian or eligible student may ask the district to amend a record that they believe is inaccurate or misleading. They should write the school principal; clearly identify the part of the record they want changed and specify why it is inaccurate or misleading. If the district decides not to amend the record as requested by the parent/guardian or eligible student, the district will notify them of the decision and advise them of their right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the parent/guardian or eligible student when notified of the right to a hearing.
3. The right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student’s education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent. Exceptions permitting disclosure without consent are disclosure deemed by the district as necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or other individuals and disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is a person employed by the district as an administrator, supervisor, instructor, or support staff member (including health or medical staff and law enforcement unit personnel); a person serving on the school board; a person or company with whom the district has contracted to perform a special task (such as an attorney, hearing officer, auditor, medical consultant, or therapist); or a parent/guardian or student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing their tasks. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility. Upon request, the district discloses educational records without consent to officials of another school district in which a student seeks or intends to enroll.
4. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the district to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the Office that administers FERPA is:

Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20202

FERPA limits what a school, district and/or employee can share about a student to someone other than their parent/guardian.

See Policy 3231 – Student Records and Procedure 3231 – Student Records.