HOOVER CITY SCHOOLS In-Service Training: Annual Review of

HOOVER CITY SCHOOLS OVERVIEW OF CONFIDENTIALITY OF SPECIAL EDUCATION RECORDS Revised September 2002  Education records include records, files, documents, and other materials which contain information directly related to a student and are maintained by an education agency or institution or by a person acting for the agency.  “Sole possession” records are records that have not been shared with anyone else. This would be private notes and other materials created by individual school personnel as memory aids, provided they are not revealed to another person.  Parents have the right to examine test protocols because they are education records. Test protocols are not “sole possession records” because they are created by two parties and are used to evaluate the student, not as a memory aid. Test protocols and teacher- made tests, once administered to a student and retained in personally identifiable form, become educational records and do not qualify as sole possession records under Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).  Storage of Records: Education records of all children referred for evaluation and/or identified as disabled will be maintained in a limited access location that will ensure confidentiality (locked, secure file cabinet or desk drawer).

Disclosure of Special Education Records: The district must maintain for public inspection a current list of names and positions of employees within a district who have access to personally identifiable information. The district must have parent consent before releasing information to anyone other than officials of agencies using information in conjunction with the child’s program. Parental consent is not required to release records to education employees who have legitimate interests, to education officials of an agency to which the student has enrolled, to state and federal officials in conjunction with monitoring, and to law enforcement and judicial authorities when the child has committed a crime.  Access to Records by Parents: May inspect and review all educational records used by the district for a free appropriate public education within 45 days of request and before any IEP meeting is conducted. Are provided copies when failure to do so would prevent the parents from exercising their right to inspect and review the records. Upon request, must be given explanations and interpretations regarding their child’s records. All persons given access to records (or information in the records at a meeting) except parents and authorized employees of the district must sign indicating they had access to records. Such persons include, but are not limited to advocates, relatives, attorneys, consultants, outside evaluators, etc. Parents may review only data relating to their child. If data cannot be isolated, the agency may inform the parent regarding that portion of data. If parents request, they must be provided with a list of types and locations of educational records.

 Children are afforded rights of privacy similar to those afforded to parents regarding records, taking into consideration the age of the child and the severity of the disability. Transfer of Records: Upon request from the parents or from the education agency where the child with a disability has enrolled, and education agency must transfer a copy of all special  education records no later than thirty (30) calendar days from receipt of request. Although parental consent is not required to transfer special education records from one education agency to another, the parents MUST BE GIVEN PRIOR NOTICE (written notice to the last known address) of the transfer and have the opportunity for a hearing to challenge the content of the records prior to the transfer.

 Amendment of Records at Parent’s Request: If a parent believes the education records are inaccurate or misleading or violate the privacy or other rights of the child, he/she may request that the education agency amend the information. Within fifteen (15) calendar days from the receipt of request, the parent must be notified in writing of the district’s decision to amend or not to amend the records in accordance with the request. The written notice not to amend the information must advise the parent of their right to a local hearing before the education agency. The district must, on request, provide an opportunity for a hearing to challenge information in records to ensure that it is not inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of the privacy or other rights of the child.  If the district decides that the information is inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of the privacy or other rights of the child, it must amend the information and inform the parent in writing.  If the district decides that the information should not be amended, the district must inform the parent of the right to place in the records a statement commenting on the information or setting forth reasons for disagreeing with the decision. The explanation becomes a permanent part of the record.

 Retention and Destruction of the Records of Students with Disabilities:  Education records must be retained for a period of five (5) years after the termination of the special education program for which they were used.  A permanent education record may be maintained without a time limitation.  At the end of the five-year retention period, the parents must be notified that the special education records are no longer needed. The parents may choose to receive the information or have it destroyed by the education agency. If the district is unable to locate the parents, the information no longer needed may be destroyed.  Confidentiality of the information to be destroyed must be maintained.

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