PROCEDURES FOR THE MAINTENANCE AND CONFIDENTIALITY OF STUDENT RECORDS
347-Rule
Waunakee Community School District
A. CONTENT OF RECORDS
Student records include all records relating to an individual student other than notes or records maintained for personal use by teachers or other certified personnel which are not available to others, records necessary for and available only to persons involved in the psychological treatment of a student, records created or received by the District after an individual is no longer a student in attendance and that are not directly related to the individual’s attendance as a student, and law enforcement unit records.
1. Progress records
Progress records maintained by the school include a statement of courses taken by the student, the student's grades, the student’s immunization records, the student's extracurricular activities and the student's attendance record.
2. Behavioral records
Behavioral records maintained by the school include psychological tests, personality evaluations, records of conversations, written statements relating specifically to an individual student's behavior, tests relating specifically to achievement or measurement of ability, the student’s physical health records other than his/her immunization records, law enforcement agency records and any other student records which are not progress records.
a. Law enforcement agency records
"Law enforcement agency records" include those records and other information obtained from a law enforcement agency relating to:
- The use, possession or distribution of alcohol or a controlled substance by a student enrolled in the District;
- The illegal possession of a dangerous weapon by a child;
- An act for which a District student was taken into custody based on the law enforcement officer's belief that he/she violated or was violating any state or federal criminal laws; and
- The act for which a juvenile enrolled in the District was adjudged delinquent.
The law enforcement agency may provide such record information to the District on its own initiative or on the request of the District Administrator or designee, subject to the agency's official policy. The District may also enter into an interagency agreement with law enforcement and other appropriate agencies to provide for the routine disclosure of record information in accordance with state law provisions. If a law enforcement agency denies access to any of the aforementioned records, the District may file a petition with the court seeking access to the records based on legitimate educational or safety interests in the records.
b. Court records
“Court records" include those records received from a court clerk concerning a juvenile enrolled in the District who:
- Has had a petition filed with a court alleging that he/she has committed a delinquent act that would be a felony if committed by an adult;
- Has been adjudged delinquent;
- Has school attendance as a condition of his/her court dispositional order; or
- Has been found to have committed a delinquent act at the request of or for the benefit of a criminal gang that would be a felony if committed by an adult, and has been adjudged delinquent on that basis.
c. Physical health records
“Physical health records" include basic health information about a student, including the student’s immunization records, the student's emergency medical card, a log of first aid and medicine administered to the student, an athletic permit card, a record concerning the student's ability to participate in an education program, the results of any routine screening test such as for hearing, vision or scoliosis, and any follow-up to such test, and any other basic health information as determined by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
d. Patient health care records
"Patient health care records" include all records relating to the health of a student prepared by or under the supervision of a health care provider which are not included in the student "physical health records" definition above. Any record that is required to be treated as a patient health care record is subject to different disclosure and confidentiality requirements than other behavioral records.
3. Directory data
Directory data are those student records designated in the District’s student directory data policy 347.1.
4. Law enforcement unit records
Law enforcement unit records include those records maintained by a law enforcement unit of the District that were created for the purpose of law enforcement. A “law enforcement unit of the District” is an individual, office, department, division or other component of the District that is authorized by the School Board to do any of the following:
- Enforce any law or ordinance, or refer to the appropriate authorities a matter for enforcement of any law or ordinance against any person other than the school district; and/or
- Maintain the physical security and safety of a public school.
Law enforcement unit records relating to juveniles must be treated according to the same limitations on use and disclosure that apply to a law enforcement agency’s treatment of any juvenile’s records.
B. CONFIDENTIALITY
All student records are confidential, subject to:
- The following exceptions;
- Any other disclosures of student records that may be mandated by state or federal law; and
- Any more specific restrictions on disclosure that are imposed by a state or federal law that protects specific records to a greater extent than provided under these procedures.
1. Release of student records to students and parents or guardians
a. A student or the parent or guardian of a minor student shall, upon request, be shown and provided with a copy of the student's progress records.
b. To the extent authorized by state and federal law, an adult student or the parent or guardian of a minor student shall, upon request, be shown the student's behavioral records in the presence of a person qualified to explain and interpret the records. Such a student or parent or guardian shall, upon request, be provided with a copy of the behavioral records.
c. To the extent authorized by state and federal law, a parent shall have access to a student's school records regardless of whether the parent has legal custody of the child, unless the parent has been denied periods of physical placement with the child as ordered by the court.
d. Personally identifiable information from an adult student's records may be disclosed to the student's parent(s) or guardian(s), without the adult student's written consent, if the adult student is a dependent of his/her parent(s) or guardian(s) under the Internal Revenue Code. However, disclosure under this paragraph shall not be made when an adult student has informed the school, in writing, that the information may not be disclosed.
2. Access to student records (other than patient health care records) by school officials
a. School officials shall have access to a student’s records only if they have a legitimate educational interest, including safety interest, in the record. A "school official" is a person employed by the District who is required by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to hold a license; a law enforcement officer(s) who is individually designated by the Board and assigned to the District, a person who is employed by or working on behalf of the District as an administrator, supervisor, instructor or support staff member (including health or medical staff); a person serving on the Board; a person or company with whom the District has contracted to perform a specific task (such as an attorney, hearing officer, auditor, medical consultant or therapist); or a person serving on an official committee such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his/her tasks. A school official has a "legitimate educational interest" if the official needs to review a student record in order to fulfill his/her professional or District responsibility.
b. Law enforcement agency record information received by the District may be made available to those school officials with legitimate educational interests, including safety interests, in the information. If law enforcement agency record information obtained by the District relates to a District student, the information may also be disclosed to those District employees who have been designated by the Board to receive that information for the purpose of providing treatment programs for District students. The information may not be used as the sole basis for suspending or expelling a student from school, or as the sole basis for taking any other disciplinary action against a student, except action under the District's athletic/activity code.
c. Law enforcement unit records may be made available to school officials under the same conditions as outlined above regarding access to law enforcement agency record information.
d. Court records obtained by the District must be disclosed to District employees who work directly with the juvenile named in the records or who have been determined by the Board to have legitimate educational interests, including safety interests, in the information. An employee cannot further disclose the information, and the information cannot be used as the sole basis for suspending or expelling a student from school, or as the sole basis for taking any other disciplinary action against a student, except action under the District's athletic/activity code.
e. Notwithstanding their confidential status, student records may be used in suspension and expulsion proceedings and by individualized education program teams under special education laws.
C. MAINTENANCE, DISCLOSURE, AND DESTRUCTION OF STUDENT RECORDS
1.While students are attending school, their records will be maintained in the school of attendance. Upon transfer of the student to another school operated by the District, the records shall be transferred to that school. Patient health care records, law enforcement agency and law enforcement unit records shall be maintained separately from a student's other records.
2. The Director of Special Education shall provide each building principal with procedural and other technical assistance for the purpose of ensuring the confidentiality of all student records kept at the principal’s school. Except as otherwise provided, all requests for inspection or for transfer to another school or school district should be directed to the building principal who will determine whether inspection or transfer is permitted under state and federal law and these procedures. The building principal or his/her qualified designee shall be present to interpret behavioral records when such a request has been made by the parent, guardian, or adult student. Upon transfer of student records to the central administrative office, the District Administrator or his/her qualified designee shall assume these duties.
A record of each request for access to and each disclosure of personally identifiable information from the education records of a student shall be maintained with such student's records, except when the request is from or the disclosure is to the following person/party:
• the parent or guardian or adult student;
• a school official;
• a party with written consent from the parent or guardian or adult student;
• a party seeking directory data; or
• a party seeking or receiving the records as directed by a federal grand jury or other law enforcement subpoena and the issuing court or other issuing agency has ordered that the existence or the contents of the subpoena or the information in response to the subpoena not be disclosed.
3. When a student ceases to be enrolled in a school operated by the District, the student’s remaining student records shall be maintained as follows:
a. Behavioral records that are identifiable to the student will be maintained for no longer than one year after the student graduated from or last attended the school unless the student or his/her parent or guardian, if the student is a minor, gives permission that the records may be maintained for a longer period of time.
• The District will normally request consent to maintain the behavioral records of such former students (such as students with disabilities) for the period of time that such records may be needed for program audit purposes. If the District does not obtain such consent, the District will arrange to maintain records needed for audit purposes in a manner that is not identifiable to the individual student.
b. Student progress records shall be maintained for a minimum of 5 years after the student graduates or ceases to be enrolled in the District.
c. Any request for the “directory data” of a former student will be treated according to the District’s policy on “directory data,” and, to the extent applicable, the District will continue to honor any valid request to opt out of the disclosure of directory information (e.g., such as the opt-out decision that was in effect when the student was last in attendance), unless such opt-out decision is appropriately rescinded.
4. The Director of Special Education shall oversee the management of the records of students with disabilities.
a. The District shall inform the parent(s) or guardian of a student with disabilities, or the adult student if applicable, when personally-identifiable information that was collected, maintained, or used under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is no longer needed to provide educational services to the child. Except for a record of a student's name, address, and phone number, his/her grades, attendance record, classes attended, grade level completed, and year completed, such personally identifiable information must be destroyed at the request of the parent(s), guardian, or adult student. By submitting a timely written request, the parent, guardian, or student may elect to take possession of the personally-identifiable records in lieu of having the records destroyed.
b. Such a notice that certain records are no longer needed to provide a child with educational services will normally be given at the time the child graduates or otherwise ceases to be enrolled in the District. As further described above, the District will also normally, at the same time, request consent to maintain particular records for the additional time period that they are needed for program audit purposes.
D. PARENT/GUARDIAN/STUDENT REQUESTS FOR AMENDMENTS OF STUDENT RECORDS
1. A parent or guardian or adult student who believes that information contained in the student's records is inaccurate, misleading or otherwise in violation of the student's rights of privacy may request the District to amend the records. Such request shall be addressed in writing to the school official having custody of the records. Within a reasonable time after receiving the request, the person having custody of the records shall decide whether to amend the records in accordance with the request and inform the parent or guardian or adult student of the decision.
2. If the person having custody of the records refuses to amend the records, he/she shall inform the parent or guardian or adult student of the refusal and advise him/her of the right to a hearing. The request for the hearing shall be filed in writing with the District Administrator or designee. The parent or guardian or adult student shall be given notice of the date, place and time of the hearing reasonably in advance of the hearing.
a. The hearing shall be conducted by the District Administrator or designee, who must be someone who does not have a direct interest in the outcome of the hearing.
b. The parent or guardian or adult student shall be afforded the opportunity to present relevant evidence and may be assisted or represented by individuals of his/her choice at his/her own expense, including an attorney.
c. The decision of the hearing officer shall be based solely upon the evidence presented and shall include a summary of the evidence and the reason for the decision.
d. The hearing shall be held and the parent(s) or guardian or adult student informed of the hearing officer's decision in writing within a reasonable period of time after the hearing.
e. If the hearing officer decides that the information is inaccurate, misleading or otherwise in violation of the student's privacy rights, the education records of the student shall be amended accordingly.
f. If the hearing officer decides that the information is not inaccurate, misleading or otherwise in violation of the student's privacy rights, the District shall inform the parent or guardian or adult student of the right to place a statement commenting upon the information in the education records and/or describing reasons for disagreeing with the decision of the hearing officer.
E. COMPLAINTS REGARDING ALLEGED NONCOMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS
Adult students or parents or guardians of minor students may file a complaint with the Family Policy Compliance Office of the U.S. Department of Education for alleged District noncompliance with requirements of the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
F. ANNUAL NOTICE
Parents, guardians and adult students shall be notified annually of the following:
- Their rights to inspect, review and obtain copies of student records;
- Their rights to request the amendment of the student's school records if they believe the records are inaccurate, misleading or otherwise in violation of the student's rights of privacy;
- Their rights to consent to the disclosure of the student's school records, except to the extent state and federal law authorizes disclosure without consent; and
- Their right to file a complaint with the Family Policy Compliance Office of the U.S. Department of Education.
The notice shall be distributed to parents and guardians and adult students at the beginning of each school year. When a student transfers into the District after the above notice has been given, the student and his/her parent(s) or guardian shall receive a copy of the notice at the time and place of enrollment.
G. OTHER NOTICES
In a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable law, the District shall provide parents, guardians, and adult students with notice of the District’s student directory data designations and their right to opt-out of the release of such information as student directory data.
Cross References:
WASB PRG 347 Sample Rule 1
Adoption Date: July 2011
Revised Date: March 2023
