Current through Vol. 41, No. 13, March 15, 2024
(a) The State Board of Education requires
that all Oklahoma public school districts receiving federal funds comply with
the requirements of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (Section 438
of the General Education Provisions Act, P.L. 90-247 and P.L. 93-380 as
amended) and regulations adopted, thereto, by the U.S. Department of Education.
These provisions protect the rights of privacy of students and their families
in connection with educational records.
(b) Compliance requires policies and
procedures to be adopted by districts that will regulate access to and release
of student records. Requirements include:
(1)
Notification to parents and the public of the kinds of data collected and that
which is to be released as directory information.
(2) Directory information may include the
student's name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, major field
of study, class, participation in officially recognized activities and sports,
weight and height of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, degrees
and awards received, and the most recent previous educational agency or
institution attended.
(3) Public
notification of the procedures for gaining access to a student's record by a
parent or guardian.
(4) Notice of
prohibition of access or release of personally identifiable information (other
than directory information) without written consent of the parent or eligible
student (student becomes eligible to control own record access at age eighteen
(18) or enrollment in post-secondary institution) to any except legally
specified parties. Excepted parties are:
(A)
local school officials;
(B) other
schools where student may transfer;
(C) specified U.S. and State officials when
authorized by law;
(D) financial
aid officials to determine aid or legality;
(E) local and State officials under previous
mandate for data,
(F) organizations
doing studies on testing, student aid, and instruction improvement if personal
identification is not further released;
(G) accreditation organizations for limited
accreditation purposes;
(H) judge's
order;
(I) parents of tax dependent
student (in case of divorce, separation); and
(J) emergency personnel who need information
to protect the health and safety of the student or other persons.
(5) Parents shall also be informed
as to how they may request a hearing to halt the release of, challenge, or
expunge any personally identifiable or directory information being collected by
the school. Parental and student rights shall be explained and procedures
defined in privacy policies of the district.
(c) Furthermore, parents and students should
be notified if the requests are honored on transfers or subpoenas.