File: JRA-R
Procedures for Student Educational
Records
I. INTRODUCTION
These
procedures have been adopted to implement federal and state legislation
establishing guidelines governing the manner in which student records are
maintained and supervised. The purpose of the legislation is to ensure students
and parents of students access to their official records, to guarantee that
these records are used only for legitimate educational purposes, and to ensure
that the records are not released without the written permission of the student
or parent of the student except as permitted by law. These procedures do not
contain all the information contained in the federal or state legislation, but
does adopt and incorporate such laws.
II. DEFINITIONS
The
following definitions apply to terms used in this policy.
1. “Act”
means the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. § 1232g).
2. “Directory
information” means the following information
contained in an education record of a student: name, the student’s participation in officially recognized
activities and sports, height weight of
student athletes, grade level in school of participants in extracurricular activities, date of attendance at M.S.A.D.
#41 schools, and honors and awards received.
3. “Eligible
student” means a student who has attained eighteen years of age, has not been
judged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be so severely impaired that the
student is unable to make decisions or exercise judgment on his or her own
behalf, or is attending an institution of post-secondary education.
4. “Parent”
means parent, regardless of divorce or separation, a legal guardian, or
individual acting as a parent or guardian provided that there shall be a
presumption that a parent has the authority to exercise the rights inherent in
the Act, unless there is evidence of a state law or court order governing such
matters as divorce, separation or custody or a legally binding instrument that
specifically revokes such rights.
5. “Record” means any information or
data recorded in any medium including, but not limited to, handwriting, print,
computer media, video or audio tape, microfilm and microfiche, but excluding
records of instructional, supervisory and administrative personnel and
educational personnel ancillary to those persons which are in the sole
possession of the maker thereof and which are not accessible or revealed to any
other person except a temporary substitute for the maker of the record.
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6.
“School”
means M.S.A.D. #41 and each school within the system.
7. “Student”
includes any individual with respect to whom M.S.A.D. #41
maintains
education records.
III. ANNUAL NOTIFICATION OF RIGHTS
Each year
parents of students attending school or eligible students attending school will
be provided with a summary of their rights through any of the following means:
1. Letter
to each parent or eligible student within M.S.A.D. #41, or
2. Publication
of the policy summary in a school newspaper, newsletter, or handbook distributed
to each parent or eligible student.
A model
copy of that summary is attached to these procedures as JRA-E.
IV. INSPECTION AND REVIEW OF EDUCATION
RECORDS
Parents of
students and eligible students may review and inspect their educational records
by the following procedure:
1. The
parent or eligible student must request in writing to review the records
through the building administrator.
2. The
school will comply with the request within a reasonable period of time, but in
no case more than 45 days after it received the request, and
will comply before any meeting regarding an Individualized Education Program or
any due process hearing relating to the identification, evaluation, or
placement of the student.
3. The
building administrator will list the types and locations of all records, the
names and titles of officials responsible for those records, and the names of
non-school personnel who have received copies or reviewed the education
records.
4. The
school may deny a request for access to or a copy of the student’s record if
there is reasonable doubt as to the legality of the parent/child relationship.
Access will be withheld until a determination of legal right to access can be
established.
V. DISCLOSURE
OF EDUCATION RECORDS
1. The
school will not disclose any personally identifiable information from the
education records of a student without the prior written consent of the parent
or of the eligible student. The written consent shall include a specification
of the records which may be disclosed, the purpose(s) of the disclosure(s), and
the identity of the party of parties to whom the
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disclosure(s) may be made. Exceptions to this disclosure requirement are
as follows:
A. As provided by 20-A
MR.S.A. § 6001-B, when a student transfers from
M.S.A.D. #41 to another unit in Maine or any other state, a copy of all of
his/her education records, including special education records, will be sent to
the receiving school unit upon written request of the superintendent or designee
of that unit; there is no requirement for written consent by the
parent/guardian or eligible student. At the request of the receiving unit, the
student ‘s current or former school administrator will disclose orally or in
writing whether the student seeking admission has been expelled, suspended or
is the subject of an expulsion or suspension proceeding.
B) Personally
identifiable information may be disclosed without written consent if the
disclosure is to:
1) State
and local educational authorities, the Comptroller General of the United
States, or the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education (including those
acting for the Secretary) in connection with the audit and evaluation of
federal and state supported educational programs or for enforcement of or
compliance with federal legal requirements, and to state and local educational
authorities as required by state statute and permitted by federal law.
2) School
administrators, board members, officials, teachers and other school personnel,
contracted providers of educational services for this child and lawyers within
the M.S.A.D. #41 who have legitimate educational interests.
3) Officials
of another school, school system, or institution of post-secondary education in
which the student seeks or intends to enroll.
4) Institutions
to which the student has applied for or has received financial aid if the
information is necessary to determine the eligibility, amount, or conditions of
the aid or to enforce the terms or conditions of the aid.
5) Organizations
conducting studies for, or on behalf of, educational agencies or institutions,
including, but not limited to, studies to develop, validate, or administer
predictive tests.
6) Accrediting organizations for the purpose of carrying out
their accrediting functions.
7) Parents
of a dependent student, as defined in Section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1954.
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8) Those
as directed by a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena, provided that
reasonable effort is made to notify the parent of the student or eligible
student of the order or subpoena prior to compliance herewith, unless the
subpoena or judicial order directs that the disclosure not occur.
9) A court of law, if relevant
to an action brought by the parent’s of the child against the school unit, or
brought by the school unit against the child or child’s parents.
10) Appropriate
parties in a health or safety emergency provided that knowledge of the
information is necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or
other individuals. This disclosure may include release of appropriate
information to school officials in other school units about disciplinary action
taken against a student for conduct that posed a significant risk to the safety
or well being of that student or other members of the school community, if the
officials in the other school unit have a legitimate educational interest in
the behaviors of the student.
11) Criminal
justice agencies or other agencies that by court order or agreement are responsible
for the juvenile in circumstances as described in 20-A MR.S.A. § 6001 (3).
12) Other
circumstances specifically permitted by law.
C) Directory
information may be disclosed without parental consent about former students.
D) M.S.A.D.
#41 reserves the right to make public at its discretion personally identifiable
information from the education records of a student if that information has
been designated as directory information as that term is defined under
subparagraph two of section II of this policy, unless the parent of the student
or the eligible student informs the school in writing by July 1 for the
upcoming year or within thirty (30) days after enrollment, whichever is later,
that such personally identifiable information is not to be designated as
directory information with respect to that student.
Under
Maine law, M.S.A.D. #41 shall not publish on the Internet without written
parental consent any information, whether directory or otherwise, that
identifies a student, including but not limited to the student’s full name,
photograph, personal biography, e-mail address, home address, date of birth,
social security number, and parents’ name.
2. All
disclosures of information under this section will comply with regulations and
guidelines provided by the Federal Government and the Maine Department of
Education.
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3. The
school will maintain a record of disclosures of personally identifiable
information from the education records of a student and will permit a parent or
eligible student to inspect that record, except that such record shall not
include disclosures to the parent of a student or an eligible student,
disclosures pursuant to written consent, disclosures to school officials or
disclosures of directory information.
VI. REQUEST TO AMEND EDUCATION RECORDS
1. All
parents of students and eligible students may seek correction of education
records of the student through a request to amend the record on the grounds
that it is inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of the privacy or other
rights of the student. The school shall, within fifteen (15) days of receipt of the request, either amend the information
in accordance with the parent’s request or inform the parents of its refusal to
amend the information and advise the parent of the opportunity for a hearing.
2. If
the request is denied, the parent of the student or the eligible student shall
be entitled to a hearing, upon request. The hearing shall be held within a
reasonable period of time from the time the school receives the request, and
‘the parent of the student or the eligible student shall be given advance
notice of the date, place, and time of the hearing. The superintendent may
designate an individual to conduct the hearing. The individual may be an employee
of the school unit but may not have a direct interest in the outcome of the
hearing. The parent of the student or the eligible student shall be afforded a
full and fair opportunity to present evidence relevant to the issues raised and
may be assisted or represented by individuals of his/her choice at his/her own
expense, including an attorney. The school shall make its decision in writing
within a reasonable period of time. The decision of the school shall include a
summary of the evidence and the reasons for the decision.
3. If, as a result of the hearing, the
school decides that the information is inaccurate, misleading or otherwise in
violation of the privacy or other rights of the student, it shall amend the
education records of the student accordingly and so inform the parent of the
student or the eligible student in writing.
4. If,
as a result of the hearing, the school decides that the information is not
inaccurate, misleading or otherwise in violation of the privacy or other rights
of the student, it shall inform the parent or eligible student of the right to
place in the education records of the student a statement commenting upon the
contested information in the education records and/or setting forth any reasons
for disagreeing with the decision of the school.
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5. Any
explanation placed in the education record of the student under the preceding
paragraph shall be maintained by the school as part of the education records of
the student as long as the record or contested portion is maintained by the
school, and if the education records of the student or the contested portion is
disclosed by the school to any party, the explanation shall also be disclosed
to that party.
VII. STUDENT RIGHTS
When a
student becomes an eligible student, the rights accorded to and the consent
required of the parent of the student shall thereafter transfer to the eligible
student.
VIII. LIMITATIONS ON WAIVERS
A parent of
a student or an eligible student may waive any of his or her rights regarding
confidentiality of educational records as set forth in this policy and in the
Act, but such a waiver shall be in writing and signed by the parent or student
as appropriate. The school may not require that a parent of a student, or a
student, waive his or her rights.
A waiver
under this section may be revoked with respect to any actions occurring after
the revocation. A revocation under this paragraph must be in writing. If a
parent of a student executes a waiver under this section, that waiver may be
revoked by the student any time after he or she becomes an eligible student.
IX. FEES
The school
shall provide copies of education records to parents of students or eligible
students upon request. The cost of producing copies of the record, if desired,
to the parent of the student or the eligible student will be ten cents ($0.10))
per page copied, plus postage. This fee, however, will not prohibit a parent’s
or eligible student’s opportunity for access to the records if they are unable
to pay for such copies. There will be no charge to search for or to retrieve
the education records of a student.
X. LIMITATION
OF DESTRUCTION OF EDUCATION RECORDS
The school
may destroy parts of an education record of a student when they are no longer
deemed useful, subject to the following exceptions:
1. The
school may not destroy any education record if there is any outstanding request
to inspect or review such records.
2. The
record of access maintained shall be retained for as long as the education
record to which it pertains is maintained.
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3.
The
school shall inform parents of students with disabilities when education
records are no longer needed to provide educational services to the student or
to demonstrate that the school has provided the student with a free appropriate
public education as required by law. At that point, the records shall be
destroyed at the request of the parents and may be turned over to parents or
eligible student upon their request.
4. A
permanent record of a special education student’s name, address, phone number,
grades, attendance record, classes attended, and grade
and year completed shall be maintained without time limitations.
XI. COMPLAINT PROCEDURE
The
Secretary of the United States Department of Education maintains an office that
will investigate, process and review complaints which
may be filed concerning alleged violations of the provisions of the Act.
Complaints regarding violations of rights accorded parents and eligible
students may be submitted in writing to the following address:
Family Policy Compliance Office
Department of
Education
References: 20 U.S.C. § 1232g;
34 C.F.R. Part 99
20-A M.R.S.A. § 6001, 6001-B
First
Adopted
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