The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords parentsand students over 18 years of age (“eligible students”) certain rights withrespect to the student’s education records. These rights are:
(1) The right to inspect andreview the student’s education records within 45 days after the day the “School”receives a request for access.
Parents or eligible studentsshould submit to the school principal (or appropriate school official) awritten request that identifies the record(s) they wish to inspect. The school official will make arrangementsfor access and notify the parent or eligible student of the time and placewhere the records may be inspected.
(2) The right to request theamendment of the student’s education records that the parent or eligiblestudent believes are inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of thestudent’s privacy rights under FERPA.
Parents or eligible students whowish to ask the School to amend a record should write the school principal,clearly identify the part of the record they want changed, and specify why itshould be changed. If the School decidesnot to amend the record as requested by the parent or eligible student, the schoolwill notify the parent or eligible student of the decision and of their rightto a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearingprocedures will be provided to the parent or eligible student when notified ofthe right to a hearing.
(3) The right to provide writtenbefore the school discloses personally identifiable information from the student’seducation records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosurewithout consent.
One exception, which permitsdisclosure without consent, is disclosure to school officials with legitimateeducational interests. A school officialis a person employed by the School as an administrator, supervisor, instructor,or support staff member (including health or medical staff and law enforcementunit personnel) or a person serving on the School Board. A school official alsomay include a volunteer or contractor outside of the school who performs aninstitutional service of function for which the school would otherwise use itsown employees and who is under the direct control of the school with respect tothe use and maintenance of PII from education records, such as an attorney,auditor, medical consultant, or therapist; a parent or student volunteering toservice on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievancecommittee; or a parent, student or other volunteer assisting another schoolofficial in performing his or her tasks. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the officialneeds to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professionalresponsibility.
Upon request, the schooldiscloses education records without consent to officials of another schooldistrict in which a student seeks or intends to enroll, or is already enrolledif the disclosure is for purposes of the student’s enrollment or transfer. (Note: FERPArequires a school district to make a reasonable attempt to notify the studentof the records request unless it states in its annual notification that itintends to forward records on request.)
(4) The right to file a complaintwith the US Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the School District to comply with the requirements ofFERPA. The name and address of theoffice that administers FERPA is:
Family Policy ComplianceOffice
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC20202-5920
USD 404 – Riverton
6860 SE Hwy 66
Riverton, KS 66770
(620)848-3386