FERPA Law and Privacy Policy
Privacy Law
Confidentiality of education records is a right of public-school students and their parents. This
right is provided for by two federal laws: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA),
and the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Under these laws, “education records”
means those records that are: (1) directly related to a student; and (2) maintained by an
educational agency or institution or by a party acting for the agency or institution.
Education records are maintained on every child enrolled in a public school. The types of
information gathered and maintained may include, but is not limited to: the students and parent’s
names, address, and telephone number; the student’s date and place of birth, date of enrollment in
the school, records from previous schools attended, attendance record, subjects taken, grades,
school activities, assessment results, number of credits earned, immunization records, disciplinary
records, correspondence from parents, and Child Find and other screening results including hearing
and vision screening results.
Children with disabilities may have additional education records which could include, among other
things: evaluation and testing materials, medical and health information, each annual
Individualized Education Program (IEP), notices to parents, notes regarding IEP meetings, parental
consent documents, information provided by parents, progress reports, assessment results, materials
related to disciplinary actions, and medical agreements.
The information is gathered from a number of sources, including the student’s parents and the staff
of the school of attendance. Also, with parental permission, information may be gathered from
additional sources including doctors and other health care providers.
This information is collected to assure proper identification of a student and the student’s
parents/guardians, and the maintenance of accurate records of the student’s progress and activities
in school. For children with disabilities, additional information is collected in order to assure
that the child is identified, evaluated, and provided a Free Appropriate Public Education in
accordance with state and federal education laws.
Each agency participating under Part B of IDEA must assure that at all stages of gathering,
storing, retaining, and disclosing education records to third parties that it complies with the
federal confidentiality laws. In addition, the destruction of any education records of a child with
a disability must be in accordance with IDEA regulatory requirements.
The federal Family Policy Compliance Office of the U.S. Department of Education has provided the
following notice of parent’s rights under FERPA. In accordance with IDEA, the rights of parents
regarding education records are transferred to the student at age 18.
Parents Rights Under FERPA and the State of Arizona
Cholla Academy’s policy also includes parents’ rights under FERPA as follows:
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords parents and students over 18 years of
age (“eligible students”) certain rights with respect to the student’s educational records. They
are:
The right to inspect and review the student’s education records within 45 days of the day the
school receives a request for access.
- Parents or eligible students should submit to the school principal (or other appropriate school
official) a written request that identifies the record(s) they wish to inspect. The principal will
make arrangements for access and notify the parent or eligible student of the time and place where
the records may be inspected.
The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records that the parent or eligible
student believes are inaccurate or misleading.
- Parents or eligible students may ask a school Cholla Academy to amend a record that they believe
is inaccurate or misleading. They should write to the school principal, clearly identify the part
of the record they want changed, and specify why it is inaccurate or misleading. - If the school decides not to amend the record as requested by the parent or eligible student,
the school will notify the parent or eligible student of the decision and advise them of their
right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the
hearing procedures will be provided to the parent or eligible student when notified of the right to
a hearing.
The right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the
student’s education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.
- The Cholla Academy designates the following information contained in a student’s education
records as “Directory Information” and may disclose it without parent consent, unless notified that
the school is not to disclose the information without consent: the student’s name, address,
telephone listing, date and place of birth, electronic email address, photograph, grade level,
major field of study, dates of attendance, enrollment status, participation in officially
recognized activities and sports, weight and height if a member of an athletic team, honors and
awards received, and the most recently attended educational agency or institution. - Parents have two weeks to advise the Cholla Academy in writing (a letter to the Superintendent)
of any or all of the items they refuse to permit the Cholla Academy to designate as Directory
Information about that student. After this two-week period, if the Cholla Academy has not received
a written refusal to allow the release of the Directory Information, the Cholla Academy will assume
that it has their permission to release the above- mentioned information. - One exception, which permits disclosure without consent, is disclosure to school officials with
legitimate educational interests. A school official is a person employed by the school as an
administrator, supervisor, instructor, or support staff member (including health and medical staff
and law enforcement unit personnel); a person serving on the school board; a person or company with
whom the school has contracted to perform a special task (such as an attorney, auditor, medical
consultant, or therapist); or parent or student serving on an official committee, such as a
disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her
tasks. - A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an
education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility. - Upon request, a school may disclose education records, without consent, to officials of another
school Cholla Academy in which a student seeks or intends to enroll, if the school states in its
annual notification of FERPA rights that it forwards records on request.
The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by
a school to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the office that
administers FERPA is:
Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue S.W. Washington, D.C. 20202-4605
Notice of these rights is available, upon request, on audiotape, in Braille, and in languages other
than English. You may contact the Arizona Department of Education at 602-542-5393.
FERPA, Protecting Student Privacy, U.S Department of Education Website:
https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/ferpa