LAW OFFICES
OF
LAWRENCE J. ALTMAN
14500 SOUTH OUTER FORTY ROAD
SUITE 502
CHESTERFIELD, MISSOURI 63017
TELEPHONE (314) 205-9544
FAX (314) 205-9545

Lawrence J. Altman
Carol Moran Becker*

*Also Licensed in Illinois

October 7, 1998



Mr. J. S.




Dear Mr. J. S.:

I have reviewed the second draft of the letter you forwarded to me which appears to incorporate my previous suggestions.

It is my opinion that your letter, which is a summary of the Buckley Amendment, is accurate. However, any readers of your publication should refer to the full text of the statutes and regulations. They should also call their legal counsel for questions about the Buckley Amendment.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if there is anything further.

Very truly yours,

(Original Signed)

Lawrence J. Altman

LJA:djo

Summary of
FERPA: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974
(Popularly Known as the Buckley Amendment)

This federal act applies to any educational institution or seminary that distributes federal funding, such as grants, loans, and work-study aid. ¹

This act is enforced to guarantee the rights of citizens, but especially to protect students in whom the federal government has made a significant investment. Toward these ends, the FERPA act mandates that schools must "annually" and "effectively" notify current students of their federally affirmed rights. Though former student need not be annually notified of their rights, all other FERPA rights apply to former students. ² The annual notification to students must mention the following: ^{3 4}

• the student’s right to:

• inspect and review all records that are directly related to a student and are maintained by an educational agency, institution or by a party acting for the agency or institution, ⁵
• seek amendment of records that the student believes to be inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student's privacy rights,
• consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student's educational records,
• file a complaint with the Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the educational agency or institution to comply with the requirements of the Act and this part, ⁶

• the procedure for exercising the right to inspect, review, and request amendment of educational records, ⁷ and

• if the education agency or institution has a policy of disclosing educational records, the criteria used to determine:

• who constitutes a school official, and
• what constitutes a legitimate educational interest. ⁸

Here are more federally affirmed rights under FERPA concerning student records:

• Access. A school must grant a student access to his or her educational records within 45 days after receiving a request for access. If circumstances prevent a student from inspecting and reviewing his or her educational records, the school shall make other arrangements, or the school will provide a copy of the requested record. ⁹ There may be some records that schools may choose not to provide even though requested. There are certain personal and private records of institutional personnel, certain campus law enforcement records, certain student employment records, certain records regarding health care, and certain records such as alumni records that contain only information relating to a person after such person is no longer a student at the institution. Some institutions may be reluctant to release peer review records pertaining to individuals on the basis that those records are matters that not only concern the student but concern other individuals as well.

• Amendment. If a request for amendment of the student’s records is denied, the student must be informed of the procedure to obtain a hearing about the denial of the requested amendment. The person or persons the school designates to hold the hearing must have no direct interest in the outcome of the hearing. The student may, at his or her own expense, be assisted or represented by one or more individuals of his or her own choice, including an attorney. The school shall make its decision in writing within a reasonable period of time after the hearing. The decision must be based solely on the evidence presented at the hearing, and must include a summary of the evidence and the reasons for the decision. If the decision of the hearing is to deny the request for amendment of the student’s educational record, the school must notify the student of the right to add a statement to the student’s educational record. This statement will be maintained with the contested part of the record as long as the record is maintained, and will be disclosed with the portion of the record to which the statement relates. ¹⁰

• Disclosure. The student shall provide a signed and dated written consent before a school discloses information from a student’s educational records. The consent must specify the records that may be disclosed, the purpose of the disclosure, and the identity of the person(s) or class of person(s) to whom the disclosure will be made. The school will provide the student with a copy of the records disclosed, if the student so requests. ¹¹

• Privacy. For as long as a student’s educational records exist, the school must maintain a record of each request for access, and each disclosure from student’s educational records. The school may disclose information only to parties with a legitimate interest, and on the condition that the disclosed information is not re-disclosed without the prior consent of the student. The Department of Education may direct a school not to allow a party access to student records for a minimum of five years, if that party has improperly redisclosed student information. ¹²

Footnotes

¹ The authority of the 34 CFR 99 (FERPA) regulation is derived from the General Education Provisions Act, as amended (20 U.S.C. 1232g). The full text of FERPA can be found at the US Federal Education Web site: PDF format. To find more information on FERPA and other student rights laws, search (Control+ f) these Web pages: Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), Campus Watch, ACLJ, ACLU, FindLaw: Education Law Web Sites, National Center for Educational Statistics, Family Policy Compliance Office (FPCO), Google Directory's Student Rights Category, or consult a lawyer about federal, state and local education laws: FindLaw, LegalMatch, IJ, ACLJ, Alliance Defense Fund, Christian Legal Society, Rutherford Institute, or see the Google ads. Guidebooks on FERPA and other federal education regulations are offered for sale at www.aacrao.org. For informal email information requests to the US Government: FERPA@ed.gov. A copy of this letter is posted at: http://www.geocities.com/jnsteinke/ferpa/ferpa.htm.

² FERPA Section 99.3 (see definition of "Student" (you will need to page down) defines a student as "any individual who is or has been in attendance at an education agency or institution and regarding whom the agency or institution maintains education records (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1232g(a)(6)).

³ Model Notifications for Elementary and Secondary Institutions are found at the Family Policy Compliance Office (FPCO), or see FERPA Section 99.7; Authority U.S.C. 1232g(e) and (f)

⁴ Schools may comply with FERPA notification requirements by putting a statement in registration packets, student handbooks, school newspapers, catalogs, school Web sites, etc. Here is the University of Missouri--St. Louis FERPA notification. Many school Web site notifications can be found by searching the Internet for the acronym FERPA using Internet search engines such as Google.

⁵ 20 U.S.C. 1232(g)(a) 4 A and 34 CFR (99.3) (see the definition of "Record" near the bottom of 34 CFR (99.3)).

⁶ FERPA Sections 99.60 to 99.67. Per Section 99.63, send complaints about non-compliance to: Family Policy Compliance Office, US Department of Education, 600 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20202-4605. Phone: 202-260-3887, FAX: 202-260-9001. Per Section 99.67, the Compliance Office is responsible for investigating educational agencies that are out of compliance with FERPA. If a school fails to come into voluntarily compliance with FERPA, the Compliance Office may withhold further payments under any applicable program, issue a compliant to compel compliance through a cease-and-desist order, or terminate eligibility to receive funding under any applicable program. Also, consider contacting your congressman and senator.

⁷ FERPA Section 99.20
⁸ FERPA Section 99.31
⁹ FERPA Section 99.10
¹⁰ FERPA Sections 99.20, 99.21 and 99.22
¹¹ FERPA Sections 99.30 and 99.34
¹² FERPA Sections 99.32 and 99.33

J. S. © 1998. The text of the above Web page
may be reproduced freely, but only in its entirety.

Click here to e-mail this Web site URL to a friend.

(To return to the text,

click your browser's back button.)