On April 16, 2012, the Department of Public Instruction received a complaint under state and federal special education law from XXXXX against the Unity School District. This is the department’s decision regarding that complaint. The issue is whether the district, in September 2011, improperly disclosed confidential student information from a student record.
Pupil records are all records relating to an individual student which are maintained by a local education agency. A school district may disclose personally identifiable information from a pupil record under three circumstances: (1) when the district receives written consent from a parent, guardian or adult pupil; (2) upon receipt of a court order; or (3) by authority of statute.
In September 2011, the district disclosed the student’s pupil records to the district into which the student transferred. The district did not seek consent from the parent. Under state law, an educational agency may disclose personally identifiable information from an education record of a student without consent if the disclosure is to officials of another school, school system, or institution of postsecondary education where the student seeks or intends to enroll, or where the student is already enrolled, so long as the disclosure is for purposes related to the student’s enrollment or transfer. The student’s pupil record related to the student’s transfer to the new district. The district did not improperly disclose confidential student information from a student record.
This concludes our review of this complaint, which we are closing. You may contact Allison Markoski, Special Education Team, at (608) 266-3126 if you have any questions about this decision or for technical assistance.
//signed CST 6/11/2012
Carolyn Stanford Taylor
Assistant State Superintendent
Division for Learning Support
Dec/aam