ACCESS TO STUDENT RECORDS
The Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects the
privacy of student-education records, and gives parents and students age 18 or
older certain rights with respect to these records. Parents/guardians have the
right to inspect and review official educational records directly related to their
children. Copies of records may be obtained for a fee. If parents believe that
any record is incorrect or misleading, they have the right to an opportunity for a
hearing to challenge the contents. For additional information about the policy and
regulations, parents can contact Business Administrator Staci SanSoucie at
248-6308 or
[email protected].
DIRECTORY INFORMATION
Under FERPA, certain categories of student information have also been
designated as directory information. This information includes a student’s
name, major course of study, participation in school activities or sports, weight
and height if a member of an athletic team, degrees and awards received,
photograph and class roster. Directory information may be used in the
following ways: sports programs, newspapers, other media, college recruiters,
college admission offices, college coaches, etc. Parents and eligible students
may request, in writing, that the school not disclose directory information. Send
the request to the Superintendent’s Office, 222 Woodbine Ave. East Rochester,
NY 14445.
HIPAA AND FERPA COMPLIANCE
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 requires
standards to be adopted in two areas:
• Electronic health-care transactions (include standardizing the manner in
which health services are claimed by any entity for any person in receipt of
such a service)
• Privacy (confidentiality) of all health-related services provided. This involves
protection of health information for anyone in receipt of such services.
Electronic health-care transactions: Since the Central New York Regional
Information Center submits all Medicaid claim data to the electronic Medicaid
system in NYS (eMedNY) for processing, it is a covered entity under this
act. The electronic transmission of Medicaid data is now HIPAA-compliant.
Privacy: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act – Buckley
Amendment (FERPA, aka Buckley Amendment) is more restrictive than
HIPAA with respect to the protection of privacy and security of all healthrelated services. Since all school districts (and any other educational entities
that have access to student data) are obligated to be in compliance with
FERPA, they are also HIPAA- compliant.
In order to assure compliance with FERPA (and thus with HIPAA), the
following minimum procedures must be in place:
• All student data files and information must be protected (i.e. student files
are locked or accessible only by appropriate personnel).
• Any student information/files transmitted to other appropriate recipients must
also be protected. Information files must be encrypted and password- protected.
• Student information/files may be faxed to appropriate personnel, but only
to secure sites. Parental consent is required for the release of any personally
identifiable information, other than those specifically excluded in the
FERPA Fact Sheet.
See Procedures for Transmission of Student-Specific Information for all
communications between school districts and SED/DOH pertaining to
student-specific information.
You can also read
Annual Notices from the US Department of Education on their website.