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Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
As a follow-up to the school safety roundtables conducted by Secretary
of Education Margaret Spellings, Secretary of Health and Human Services
Mike Leavitt, and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in early
fall 2007, Secretary Spellings announced the availability of new
brochures that provide guidance on the Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act (FERPA) to enable schools to better balance students’
privacy rights with school safety concerns. The brochures (scroll down
to download PDF copies) -- one for K-12 educators, one for higher
education officials, and one for parents -- are a timely refresher to
help appropriately balance student privacy and school safety. The FERPA
brochures also are available online.
In addition to the three brochures, the U.S. Department of
Education has provided a handout summarizing key emergency management
resources. Understanding the law will empower school officials and
parents to act quickly and decisively when problems arise.
Secretary Spellings sent this letter to school officials.
October 30, 2007
Following
the heartbreaking event at Virginia Tech in April of this year,
President Bush asked former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales,
Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt, and me to lead a
national dialogue regarding steps the nation can take to prevent such
tragedies at schools in the future. We toured the country talking to
state and local leaders, educators, mental health experts, parents,
students and law enforcement officials about issues affecting the
safety and well-being of students, faculty and staff. There were
several recurring themes heard across the country. These included the
need for additional guidance on the Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act (FERPA), the federal law that protects the privacy of
students’ education records, as well as information on resources that
are available to help schools and institutions of higher education plan
for, respond to and recover from a serious incident.
In
response to these comments, I am pleased to provide you with the
enclosed brochures on FERPA as a timely refresher to help you
appropriately balance student privacy and school safety, as well as
with a handout summarizing key emergency management resources available
to you.
The FERPA brochures for school officials include contact
information for obtaining additional guidance and assistance.
Understanding the law empowers school officials to act quickly and
decisively when problems arise. We have also included a separate
brochure for parents that we encourage you to distribute. A copy of
the brochures may be found on the Department’s Web site at:
http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/safeschools/index.html.
The
handout on emergency management resources includes a variety of
materials developed by the Department of Education and our partners in
the federal sector. Although it is not a comprehensive list of all
available resources, it is a useful summary of key resources that will
assist you in the development of an emergency management plan for your
school and/or community. I encourage you to consider the enclosed
information and to include it on your school Web site.
Nothing
is more important to Americans than the safety of their children.
FERPA is not intended to be an obstacle in achieving that goal. I hope
that the brochures and handout will be of help to you in safeguarding
the students for whom you are responsible. May our tribute to those we
lost in Virginia be our commitment to forestall tragedies such as the
one that took their lives.
Sincerely,
Margaret Spellings
FERPA_-_Colleges_and_Universities.pdf
FERPA_-_Elementary_and_Secondary.pdf
FERPA_-_Parents__Guide.pdf
Crisis_Resources.pdf
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