Student Records
The Tina-Avalon R-II School District complies fully with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”), which affords parents/guardians (“parents”) and students who are at least age 18 (“eligible students”) the following rights:
RIGHT TO INSPECT: Parents or eligible students have the right to inspect and review the student’s “educational records,” as that term is defined under FERPA, within 45 days of the date upon which the District receives a request for access. Parents or eligible students must submit to their Principal a written request identifying the records to be inspected.
RIGHT TO PREVENT DISCLOSURE: Parents or eligible students have the right to prevent disclosure of educational records to third parties with certain limited exceptions. The District will attempt to limit the disclosure of information contained in educational records to those instances when prior written consent has been given for the disclosure. However, upon request, the District will disclose information to officials of other schools in which a student seeks or intends to enroll. The District may also disclose information under the provisions of FERPA that allow disclosure without prior written consent, as well as directory information (unless you have refused to permit such disclosure of directory information), in accordance with FERPA regulations. The District will disclose educational records to school officials who have a legitimate educational interest in the records. Officials include those persons employed by the District, whether paid or unpaid, as an administrator, supervisor, instructor, or support staff member, including health or medical staff; persons retained by or under contract to the District to perform a special task, such as an attorney, auditor, etc.; or persons who are employed by the District’s law enforcement unit. School officials have a legitimate educational interest if the officials are: performing a task related to a student’s education; performing a task related to the discipline of a student; providing a service or benefit relating to the student or student’s family, such as health care, counseling, job placement, or financial aid; or maintaining the safety and security of the campus.
DESIGNATION OF DIRECTORY INFORMATION: In Board Policy, the District has designated certain information contained in the educational records of its students as directory information for purposes of FERPA. The District considers the following to be directory information:
student’s name, parent/guardian’s name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, dates of attendance, degrees and award received, most recent previous school attended, and photograph.
As provided above, the District may disclose directory information in its discretion without the consent of a parent of a student or an eligible student. Parents of students and eligible students have the right, however, to refuse to permit the designation of any or all of the above information as directory information. In that case, the information will not be disclosed except with the consent of a parent or student, or as otherwise allowed by FERPA. Any parent or student refusing to have any or all of the designated directory information disclosed must file written notification to this effect with the principal of the school which the student attends. In the event a notification of refusal is not filed, the District assumes that neither a parent of a student or an eligible student objects to the release of the directory information designated.
MILITARY RECRUITER ACCESS/STUDENT RECRUITING INFORMATION: Upon request of military recruiters, the District is required by law to provide access to secondary students’ names, addresses, and telephone listings. The District is also required to provide military recruiters with the same access to secondary school students as is provided generally to post secondary education institutions or to prospective employers. However, any secondary student or parent of a secondary student may request that the student’s name, address, and telephone listed not be released without prior written consent of the parent. Requests that a student’s name, address, and telephone listing not be released to military recruiters must be submitted, in writing, to the principal of the school which the student attends.
RIGHT TO REQUEST AMENDMENT: Parents or eligible students have the right to request that the District correct any parts of an educational record believed to be inaccurate, misleading or otherwise in violation of their rights. The request by the Parents or eligible students must identify, in writing, the part of the record sought to be corrected and specify why it is inaccurate/misleading. If the District decides not to amend the record, it will notify the parents or eligible student and provide information on the right to a hearing to present evidence that the record should be changed.
RIGHT TO COMPLAIN TO FERPA OFFICE: Parents or eligible students have the right to file an external complaint regarding the District’s implementation of FERPA, and such complaint may be filed with the Family Policy Compliance Office, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20202
