The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a Federal law, requires that your child’s School, with certain exceptions, obtain your written consent prior to the disclosure of personally identifiable information from your child’s education records. However, this School may disclose appropriately designated “directory information” without written consent, unless you have advised this School’s main office to the contrary in accordance with this School’s procedures. The primary purpose of directory information is to allow this School to include information from your child’s education records in certain school publications. Examples include:
- A playbill, showing your student’s role in a drama production;
- The annual yearbook;
- Honor roll or other recognition lists;
- Graduation programs; and
- Sports activity sheets, such as for wrestling, showing weight and height of team members.
Directory information, which is information that is generally not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if released, can also be disclosed to outside organizations without a parent’s prior written consent. Outside organizations include, but are not limited to, companies that manufacture class rings or publish yearbooks. In addition, two federal laws require local educational agencies (LEAs) receiving assistance under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA) to provide military recruiters, upon request, with the following information – names, addresses and telephone listings – unless parents have advised the LEA that they do not want their student’s information disclosed without their prior written consent. [Note: These laws are Section 9528 of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. § 7908) and 10 U.S.C. § 503(c).]
If you do not want this School to disclose any or all of the types of information designated below as directory information from your child’s education records without your prior written consent, you must either request to update your Annual FERPA Parent Consent and Media Release Form or notify the School’s main office in writing by no later than one month after the official first day of classes for that academic year. This School has designated the following information as directory information: [Note: an LEA may, but does not have to, include all the information listed below.]
- Student's name
- Address
- Telephone listing
- Electronic mail address
- Date and place of birth
- Major field of study
- Dates of attendance
- Grade level
- Participation in officially recognized activities and sports
- Weight and height of members of athletic teams
- Degrees, honors, and awards received
- The most recent educational agency or institution attended
- Student ID number, user ID, or other unique personal identifier used to communicate in electronic systems but only if the identifier cannot be used to gain access to education records except when used in conjunction with one or more factors that authenticate the user’s identity, such as a PIN, password, or other factor known or possessed only by the authorized user
- A student ID number or other unique personal identifier that is displayed on a student ID badge, but only if the identifier cannot be used to gain access to education records except when used in conjunction with one or more factors that authenticate the user's identity, such as a PIN, password, or other factor known or possessed only by the authorized user.
