Regulation 2400 – Student Educational Records

Definitions

Directory information means information contained in the educational record of a student which
would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed. In the Scott
City R-I School District, directory information includes the following: the student’s name,
address, telephone listing, date and place of birth, major field of study, participation in officially
recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, dates of
attendance, degrees and awards received, the most recent previous school attended, and
photographs.

Educational record means those records that are directly related to a student and are maintained by the District.
Disclosure means to permit access to or the release, transfer, or other communication of
educational records, or the personally identifiable information contained in those records,
to any party, by any means, including oral, written or electronic means.
Eligible student means a student who has reached 18 years of age or attends an institution
of post-secondary education.
Parent means a parent of a student and includes a natural parent, a guardian, or an
individual acting as a parent/guardian in the absence of a parent/guardian.
Personally identifiable information includes, but is not limited to the student’s name; the
name of the student’s parent/guardian or other family member; the address of the student
or student’s family; a personal identifier, such as the student’s social security number or
student number; a list of personal characteristics that would make the student’s identity
easily traceable, or other information that would make the student’s identity easily
traceable.
Student means any individual who is or has been in attendance in the District and about
whom the District maintains educational records.

General Guidelines

The District shall give full rights under this regulation to either parent/guardian of a student, unless the District is provided with a court order, state law or other legally binding document that specifically revokes the parent/guardian’s rights to access under this regulation.
When a student reaches the age of 18, or attends a post-secondary institution of education the parent/guardian rights under this policy will transfer from the parent/guardian to the student.
The District will annually disseminate a notice of the rights available under this
regulation to parent/guardian and eligible students. The annual notification will include a
statement that the parent/guardian or eligible student is entitled:
1. To inspect and review the student’s educational records.
2. To request changes to the educational records to ensure that the records are not inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student’s privacy or other rights.
3. To consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student’s educational records, except to the extent that federal and state law authorize disclosure without such consent; and
4. To obtain a copy of this policy and guidelines.
  
  The annual notification will also inform parents/guardians and eligible students where copies of the policy and guidelines are located.
Prior to making directory information public, the District will notify the parent/guardian regarding the categories of information that it has designated as directory. In addition, the District will allow a reasonable period of time after such notice for the parent/guardian or eligible student to inform the District that any or all of the designated directory information should not be released without the parent’s/guardian’s or eligible student’s consent.

Procedures for Inspection and Review of Educational Records

The District’s regulation permits parents/guardians and eligible students to inspect and review the educational records of the student.
After a request for access to records, the District will allow access within a reasonable
period of time, but in no case more than forty-five (45) days after receipt of the request.
All requests for access should be directed to the Building Principal.
After the parent/guardian or eligible student has had an opportunity to inspect and review the student’s educational records, the parent/guardian may make a request for explanations and interpretations of the records to the Building Principal. The District’s designee shall respond to all reasonable requests for explanation or interpretation.
The District will not destroy any educational record if there is an outstanding request to
inspect and review that record.
If a student’s educational records contain information on more than one student, the
parent/guardian or adult student may inspect, review or be informed of only the specific
information about that student. That is, all information pertaining to another student will
be redacted.
The District may employ the use of security videos in its hallways, classrooms and/or
buses. Security videos maintained by the District’s law enforcement unit (if any) or not
maintained at all (recycled) are not considered educational records and therefore may not
be inspected and reviewed under FERP A. If security videos are maintained by the
District, such videos are protected educational records under FERP A and may be viewed
by parents or patrons with a court order or written permission from the parent( s) of each
student to whom the video is directly related.
The District may disclose personally identifiable information from an educational record
only on the condition that the party to whom the information is disclosed will not disclose
the information to any other party without the prior consent of the parent/guardian or
eligible student. Each party to whom disclosure may be made under this policy must first
sign a statement in which he/she agrees to abide by this provision and agrees to use the
information disclosed only for the purposes for which the disclosure was made. This does
not apply to disclosures of directory information or to any information that the District is
required to disclose under Missouri law.

Copies of Educational Records

The District has no obligation to provide copies of educational records to parents, their representatives or adult students under FERPA unless failure to provide copies prevents a parent or adult student from exercising the right to inspect or review the records, or is otherwise required by law. For example, if a parent does not live within driving distance of the school district, is hospitalized, or incarcerated, he or she may have a right to copies.

Though the District does not generally have an obligation to provide copies under
FERPA, it will nonetheless provide up to 10 pages per student, per school year, without
charge. All requests for copies over 10 pages per student, per school year will be denied.

The District will administratively consider exceptions to this policy on a case by case
basis. The factors to be considered in making such an exception include but are not
limited to the purpose of the copies, whether the request is overly time consuming or
burdensome, and the number of prior requests. If copies are requested to be sent to an
agency or individual other than the adult student or parent/legal guardian, all proper
releases must be signed.

Procedures to Request Amendment of a Student’s Educational Records

If a parent/guardian or eligible student believes the educational records for that student contain information that is inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of the student’s rights of privacy or other rights, he/she may ask the District to amend the record. All such requests should be directed to the Building Principal.
The District’s designee, in consultation with the administration or Board of Education as
needed, shall decide whether to amend the record as requested within a reasonable time
after the request.
If the District’s designee decides not to amend the record, he/she shall inform the
parent/guardian or eligible student of that decision and of their right to request a hearing
on the request.
If a hearing is requested, the District will hold the hearing within a reasonable time after
it has received the request and will give the parent/guardian or eligible student reasonable
advance notice of the date, time and place of the hearing. The hearing may be conducted
by any individual, including an employee of the District, who does not have a direct
interest in the outcome of the hearing. The District will give the parent/guardian or
eligible student a full and fair opportunity to present evidence relevant to the issue(s)
raised by the parent/guardian or eligible student’s request. The parent/guardian or eligible
student may, at their own expense, be assisted or represented at the hearing by any
individual of their choice, including an attorney.
The District will make its decision in writing within a reasonable period of time after the
hearing. The decision will be based solely on the evidence presented at the hearing, and
will include a summary of the evidence and the reasons for the decision.
1. If the District decides, as a result of the hearing, that the information is inaccurate, misleading or violates the student’s rights, the District shall amend the record and inform the parent/guardian or eligible student of the amendment in writing.
2. If the District decides, as a result of the hearing, that the information is not inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student’s rights, the District shall inform the parent/guardian or eligible student of that decision and shall inform the parent/guardian or student of his/her right to place a statement in the record commenting on the contested information or stating why he/she disagrees with the District’s decision, or both. If the parent/guardian or eligible student submits such a statement, the District will maintain that statement with the student’s educational records as long as the record is maintained and will disclose the statement whenever it discloses the portion of the record to which the statement relates.

Procedures Regarding Disclosure of Personally Identifiable Information Where Consent is Required

Before the District discloses personally identifiable information from a student’s records (other than directory information), the District will obtain a signed and dated written consent from the parent/guardian or eligible student. The written consent will specify the records that may be disclosed; state the purpose of the disclosure; and identify the party or parties to whom disclosure may be made.
If the parent/guardian or eligible student so requests, the District will provide him/her
with a copy of the records disclosed.

Disclosure of Personally Identifiable Information Where Consent is Not Required

The District may disclose personally identifiable information from a student’s educational
records without the written consent of the parent/guardian or eligible student in the following
circumstances:

Disclosure may be made to other school officials, including teachers, within the District whom the District has determined to have legitimate educational interests. In addition, the school official or his/her assistants who are responsible for the custody of the records and those parties authorized to audit the record keeping procedures of the District may inspect the records relating to each student without the consent of the parent/guardian or eligible student. The District designates the Building Principal to make the determination as to whether a particular school official has a legitimate educational interest in accessing a student’s educational records. Before accessing any student’s educational records, the school official seeking access must submit a written request to the Building Principal. The request must include the student’s name, the reason for the request, the school official’s name and the date of the request. The District’s designee must provide in writing whether the request was granted or denied and the reason for the decision. If the request is granted, the request and the designee’s decision must be maintained with the student’s educational records.
Disclosure may be made to officials of another school district or post secondary
educational institution where the student seeks or intends to enroll.
Disclosure may be made to authorized federal and state agencies and authorities.
Disclosure of acts of school violence, as set forth in Policy and Regulation 2673, may be
made to District employees who are directly responsible for the student’s education or
who interact with the student in the performance of the employee’s duties.
Disclosure related to past or potentially future violent behavior may be made to
appropriate staff members of portions of any student’s individualized education program
team.
Disclosure may be made to law enforcement officials, as soon as is reasonably
practicable, of the commission of the criminal acts listed in Regulation 2673.
In appropriate circumstances, District administrators may disclose student educational records to law enforcement and/or juvenile authorities where necessary to serve students prior to adjudication. Officials to whom such educational records are disclosed are required to comply with federal law governing students’ educational records.
Disclosure may be made to the appropriate division of the Juvenile Court of the
suspension of more than ten (10) days of any student under court jurisdiction.
Disclosure of discipline records may be made within five (5) days to any requesting
school district where the student seeks to enroll.
Disclosure may be made if such disclosure is in connection with financial aid for which
the student has applied or which the student has received, if the information is necessary
to determine eligibility, amount of aid, condition for the aid, or to enforce the terms and
conditions of the aid.
Disclosure may be made to organizations conducting studies for, or on behalf of,
educational agencies or institutions to develop, validate or administer predictive tests;
administer student aid programs; or improve instruction, if the study is conducted
in a way that does not permit personal identification of parent/guardian and students, and
the information is destroyed when no longer needed for the purposes for which the study
was conducted.
Disclosure may be made to accrediting organizations to carry out their accrediting
functions.
Disclosure may be made to comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena and
only after the District makes a reasonable effort to notify the parent/guardian or eligible
student of the order or subpoena in advance of the compliance.
Disclosure may be made to appropriate parties where the disclosure is in connection with
a health or safety emergency and the information is necessary to protect the health or
safety of the student or other individuals.
Disclosure may be made where the disclosure 1s of information the District has
designated to be directory information.
Disclosure may be made to the parent/guardian of a noneligible student or to an eligible
student.
Disclosure may be made without the written consent of the parent/guardian or eligible student as otherwise may be specified by federal or state law.

Record Keeping Procedures

The District will maintain a record of each request for access to and each disclosure of personally identifiable information from the educational records of each student. The Building Principal will be responsible for keeping such records of requests and disclosures.
The District will maintain the record of each request and disclosure with the educational
records of the student as long as the records are maintained by the District.
For each request or disclosure, the District’s record will include the parties who have
requested or received personally identifiable information from educational records and
the legitimate interests the parties had in requesting or obtaining the information.
If the District discloses personally identifiable information from an educational record
under the exceptions enumerated in the section above, the District will record the names
of those persons to whom that party may disclose the information on behalf of the
District and the legitimate interests which each of the additional parties has in requesting
or obtaining the information.
If the District discloses information pursuant to a health or safety emergency, the District,
within a reasonable time period, will record in the student’s educational records the
significant threat that formed the basis for the disclosure and the parties to whom the
information was disclosed.

2000 – Students