In 1974, the Buckley Act, sometimes known as the Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act, was passed. Parents are guaranteed by FERPA that their child's educational records
will be kept confidential to some extent and that they will have a fair process to access, amend,
or challenge the information in their child's records. Furthermore, parents have the authority to
determine whether the school may reveal personally identifiable information about their kid
(Essex, 2016). When a student reaches the age of eighteen or enrolls in college, their FERPA
rights also become theirs (Essex, 2016).
I deal with a lot of private information for middle school kids with disabilities in my
capacity as my school's 504 Chair. I was able to recognize a couple FERPA infractions that I had
grown accustomed to, so this exercise served as a useful refresher for me. One instance was
exchanging private information over email that contained personally identifiable information. I
am guilty of sending information to parents, teachers, counselors, and other schools via email
when I obtain student records; I will cease doing this right now.
I must gather data for certain 504 instances from a variety of sources, such as previous
schools and school districts. Even though I'm well within my rights under FERPA, I will now
consult the child's parents before making any demands (Essex, 2016). I never want any of my
parents to think that something is being done behind their backs with their child's information.
Moreover, I will follow suit before giving any other school information about their child.
I am responsible for keeping the 504 folders organized in our building, and Essex has
informed me that every time I review a file's contents, I need to sign a form that is stored inside
each folder. Our district has not adopted that policy. Since that is the preferred method of
accessing a student's 504 file, I assume the district maintains a digital record of my visits to their
file through Edplan. I also use computerized means to obtain additional records of a 504 student
that I may require, including medical, disciplinary, attendance, grade, evaluation, demographic,
parent, and so on. I promise to document my reasons for entering my students' electronic files
and to be more aware of FERPA whenever I access their data.
References
Essex, N. (2016). School law and the public schools: A practical guide for educational leaders
(6th ed.). Pearson Publishing.
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