Education records are those records maintained by the district that are directly related to a student.

The primary reason for the keeping and maintaining of education records for students is to help the individual student in his/her educational development by providing pertinent information for the student, his/her teachers and his/her parents.  These records also serve as an important source of information to assist students in seeking productive employment and/or post-high school education.

The district shall maintain confidential education records of students in a manner that conforms with state and federal laws and regulations.

Information recorded on official education records should be carefully selected, accurate, verifiable and should have a direct and significant bearing upon the student’s educational development.

The district annually notifies parents or adult students that it forwards educational records requested by an educational agency or institution in which the student seeks to enroll or receive services, including special education evaluation services.

The district may impose certain restrictions and/or penalties until fees, fines or damages are paid.  Records requested by another district to determine a student’s appropriate placement may not be withheld.  Students or parents will receive written notice at least 10 days in advance of any restrictions and/or penalties to be imposed until the debt is paid.  The notice will include the reason the student owes money to the district, an itemization of the fees, fines or damages owed and the right of parents to request a hearing.  The district may pursue fees, fines or damages through a private collection agency or other method available to the district.  The district may waive fees, fines and charges if the student or parents cannot pay, the payment of the debt could impact the health and safety of the student or if the cost of collection would be more than the total collected or there are mitigating circumstances, as determined by the superintendent.

The district shall comply with a request from parents or an adult student to inspect and review records without unnecessary delay.  Upon request, the district will provide parents or an adult student a list of the types and locations of education records collected, maintained and used by the district.  The district must give parents of children with disabilities an opportunity to examine all student education records in accordance with Oregon Administrative Rule (OAR) 581-021-0220 through 581-021-0430.  This includes all education records with respect to the identification, evaluation and educational placement of the child and the provision of a free appropriate public education to the child.  Unless authorized by federal law, the district will provide parents a copy of the student’s education record, with the exception of copies of test protocols, test questions or other documents as described in ORS 192.345(4).  The district will respond to reasonable requests for explanations and interpretations of the records.

The district annually notifies parents of all students, including adult students, currently in attendance that they have the right to:

1. Inspect and review the student’s records;
2. Request the amendment of the student’s educational records to ensure that they are not inaccurate, misleading or otherwise in violation of the student’s privacy or other rights;
3. Consent to disclosures of personably identifiable information contained in the student’s education records, except to the extent that the student educational record rules authorize disclosure without consent (See Board policy JOB – personally Identifiable Information);
4. File with the U.S. Department of Education a complaint concerning alleged failures by the district to comply with the requirements of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act; and
5. Obtain a copy of the district’s education records policy.

Regarding records to be released to district officials within the agency, the district’s notice includes criteria for determining legitimate educational interest and the criteria for determining which school officials have legitimate educational interests.  School officials may also include a contractor who performs an institutional service on behalf of the school.

The district annually notifies parents and adult students of what it considers to be directory information and the disclosure of such. (See Board policy JOA – Directory Information)

The district shall give full rights to education records to either parent, unless the district has been provided legal evidence that specifically revokes these rights.  Once the student reaches age 18 those rights transfer to the student.

The district may impose a fee for the copy of an educational record unless this fee would effectively bar a parent or eligible student from inspection of the record.

A copy of this policy and administrative regulation shall be made available upon request to parents and students 18 years of age or older or emancipated and the general public.

The district will develop administrative regulations for the maintenance, access and release of education records as well as for preserving confidentiality and for challenging the content of those records.

ORS  30.864
ORS 107.154
ORS 326.565
ORS 326.575
ORS 326.580
ORS 339.270
ORS 343.177(3)

OAR 166-400-0010 to -166-400-0065
OAR 581-021-0220 to - 0430
OAR 581-022-2260
OAR 581-022-2270

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400-1419 (2012).

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g (2012); Family Educational Rights and Privacy, 34 C.F.R. Part 99 (2017).

Assistance to States for the Education of Children with Disabilities, 34 C.F.R. § 300.501 (2017).

Student education records are those records that are directly related to a student and maintained by the district, or by a party acting for the district. However, this does not include the following:

A.  Records of instructional, supervisory and administrative personnel and
     educational personnel ancillary to those persons that are kept in the sole
     possession of the maker of the record, and are not accessible or revealed
     to any other person except a temporary substitute for the maker of the
     record;

B.  Records of the law enforcement unit of the district subject to the provisions
     of Oregon Administrative Rule (OAR) 581-021-0225;

C.  Records relating to an individual who is employed by the district that are
      made and maintained in the normal course of business, that relate
      exclusively to the individual in that individual's capacity as an employee
      and that are not available for use for any other purpose.  Records relating to
      an individual in attendance at the district who is employed as a result of
      his/her status as a student are education records and are not excepted
      under this section;

D.  Records on a student who is 18 years of age or older, or is attending an
      institution of post-secondary education, that are:

1. Made or maintained by a physician, psychiatrist, psychologist or other recognized professional or paraprofessional acting in his/her professional capacity or assisting in a paraprofessional capacity;
2. Made, maintained or used only in connection with treatment of the student; and
3. Disclosed only to individuals providing the treatment.  For purposes of this definition, "treatment" does not include remedial educational activities or activities that are part of the program of instruction at the district.

E.  Records that only contain information relating to activities in which an
      individual engaged after he/she is no longer a student at the district;

F.   Medical or nursing records which are made or maintained separately and
      solely by a licensed health care professional and which are not used for
      education purposes or planning.

The district shall keep and maintain a permanent record on each student which includes the:

      A.    Name and address of educational agency or institution;
      B.    Full legal name of the student;
      C.    Student birth date and place of birth;
      D.    Name of parents/guardians;
      E.    Date of entry in school;
      F.    Name of school previously attended;
      G.    Courses of study and marks received;
      H.    Data documenting a student's progress toward the Certificate of
              Initial Mastery (CIM) and Certificate of Advanced Mastery (CAM),
              including, where appropriate, dates of achievement of CIM and CAM;
      I.    Credits earned;
      J.    Attendance;
      K.    Date of withdrawal from school;
      L.    Social security number, subject to subsection (1)(j)[1] of
             OAR 581-021‑0250;
      M.    Such additional information as the district may prescribe.

The district shall retain permanent records in a minimum one-hour fire-safe place in the district, or keep a duplicate copy of the permanent records in a safe depository in another district location.

The district shall annually notify parents and eligible students through the district Consistent Discipline Handbook.  This notification shall state that the parent(s) or eligible student has a right to:

A.  Inspect and review the student's education records;

B.  Request the amendment of the student's education records to ensure that
     they are not inaccurate, misleading or otherwise in violation of the student's
     privacy or other rights;

C.  Consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in
      the student's education records, except to the extent that the applicable
      state or federal law authorizes disclosure without consent;

D.  Pursuant to OAR 581-021-0410, file with the United States Department of
      Education a complaint under 34 CFR §99.64 concerning alleged failures by
      the district to comply with the requirements of federal law; and

E.  Obtain a copy of the district policy with regards to student education records.

The notification shall also inform parents or eligible students that the district forwards education records requested under OAR 581-021-0250 (1)(m) and (p) within 10 days of receiving the request.  The notification shall also indicate where copies of the district policy are located and how copies may be obtained.

If the eligible student or the student's parent(s) have a primary or home language other than English, the district shall provide effective notice.

These rights shall be given to either parent unless the district has been provided with specific written evidence that there is a court order, state statute or legally binding document relating to such matters as divorce, separation or custody that specifically revokes these rights.

When a student becomes an eligible student, which is defined as a student who has reached 18 years of age or is attending only an institution of post-secondary education and is not enrolled in a secondary school, the rights accorded to, and the consent required of, the parents transfer from the parents to the student. Nothing prevents the district from giving students rights in addition to those given to parents.

Persons requesting non-exempt public records are not required to state a reason for the request.  However, persons requesting public records that may be subject to exemption will be required to state a reason for the request so that the district may make a proper analysis and response to the request.

The parent(s) or eligible student shall comply with the following procedure to inspect and review a student's education record:

A.  Provide a written, dated request to inspect a student's education record;
B.  State the specific reason for requesting the inspection.

The written request will be permanently added to the student's education record.

The district shall comply with a request for access to a student's education record within a reasonable period of time, but in no case more than 45 days after it has received the request.

The district shall respond to reasonable requests for explanations and interpretations of the student's education record.

The district shall not destroy any education records if there is an outstanding request to inspect and review the education record.

While the district is not required to give an eligible student or student's parent(s) access to treatment records under the definition of "education records" in OAR 581-021-0220 (6)(b)(D), the eligible student or student's parent(s) may, at his/her expense, have those records reviewed by a physician or other appropriate professional of their choice.

If an eligible student or student's parent(s) so requests, the district shall give the eligible student or student's parent(s) a copy of the student's education record.  The district may recover a fee for providing a copy of the record, but only for the actual costs of reproducing the record.  The district shall not provide the eligible student or student's parent(s) with a copy of test protocols, test questions and answers and other documents described in Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) 192.501 (4).

The district may deny a request for a copy or copies of the education record when the district believes that a legitimate cause exists for such a denial, including but not limited to, a request to copy the education record that would require the education record to be copied off district property or copied by an individual other than district personnel.

Fees for copies of education records may be charged.  Any such fees will be established by the superintendent to reasonably reimburse the district for actual costs of making copies of the education records.

The district will maintain a list of the types and locations of education records maintained by the district and the titles and addresses of officials responsible for the records.

All student education records will be maintained at the school building at which the student is in attendance.  The principal or his/her designee shall be the person responsible for maintaining and releasing the education records.

Personally identifiable information shall not be released without prior written consent of the eligible student or student's parent(s) except in the following cases:

A.  The disclosure is to other school officials, including teachers, within the district
      who have a legitimate educational interest.

As used in this section, "legitimate educational interest" means, a licensed staff member having the student in class, the student's counselor or other licensed or non-licensed staff due to special referral or participating in staffings, programming or case review of a specifically named student.

The district shall maintain, for public inspection, a listing of the names and positions of individuals within the district who have access to personally identifiable information with respect to students with disabilities.

A.  The disclosure is to officials of another school within the district;
B.  The disclosure is to authorized representatives of:

C.  The disclosure is in connection with financial aid for which the student has
      applied or which the student has received, if the information is necessary for
      such purposes as to:

1.  Determine eligibility for the aid;
2.  Determine the amount of the aid;
3.  Determine the conditions for the aid; or
4.  Enforce the terms and condition of the aid.

As used in this section "financial aid" means any payment of funds provided to an individual that is conditioned on the individual's  attendance at an educational agency or institution.

A.  The disclosure is to organizations conducting studies for, or on behalf of, the
      district to:

1.  Develop, validate or administer predictive tests;
2.  Administer student aid programs; or
3.  Improve instruction.

The district may disclose information under this section only if:

1.  The study is conducted in a manner that does not permit personal
     identification of parents or students by individuals other than representatives
     of the organization; and

2.  The information is destroyed when no longer needed for the purposes for
     which the study was conducted.

For purposes of this section, the term "organization" includes, but is not limited to, federal, state and local agencies, and independent organizations.

A.  The disclosure is to accrediting organizations to carry out their accrediting
      functions;

B.  The disclosure is to comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena. 
      The district may disclose information under this section only if the district makes
      a reasonable effort to notify the eligible student or student's parent(s) of the order
      or subpoena in advance of compliance;

C.  The disclosure is to parents of a dependent student, as defined in Section 152 of
      the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;

D.  The disclosure is in connection with a health or safety emergency.  The district
      shall disclose personally identifiable information from an education record to law
      enforcement, child protective services and health care professionals and other
      appropriate parties in connection with a health and safety emergency if knowledge
      of the information is necessary to protect the health and safety of the student or
      other individuals.

As used in this section a "health or safety emergency" includes, but is not limited to, law enforcement efforts to locate a child who may be a victim of kidnap, abduction or custodial interference and law enforcement or child protective services efforts to respond to a report of child abuse or neglect pursuant to applicable state law.

A.  The disclosure is information the district has designated as "directory information";

B.  The disclosure is to the parent of a student who is not an eligible student or to
      an eligible student;

C.  The disclosure is to officials of another school, school system, institution of post
      secondary education, an education service district (ESD), state regional program
      or other educational agency that has requested the records and in which the
      student seeks or intends to enroll or is enrolled or in which the student receives
      services.  The term "receives services" includes, but is not limited to, an evaluation
      or re-evaluation for purposes of determining whether a student has a disability;

D.  The disclosure is to the Board during an executive session pursuant to
      ORS 332.061.

The district shall maintain a record of each request for access to and each disclosure of personally identifiable information from the education records of each student.  Exceptions to the recordkeeping requirements shall include the parent, eligible student, school official or his/her assistant responsible for custody of the records and parties authorized by state and federal law for auditing purposes.  The district shall maintain the record with the education records of the student as long as the records are maintained.  For each request or disclosure the record must include:

A.  The party or parties who have requested or received personally identifiable
      information from the education records; and

B.  The legitimate interests the parties had in requesting or obtaining the information.

The following parties may inspect the record of request for access and disclosure to a student's personally identifiable information:

A. The parent(s) or eligible student;

B. The school official or his/her assistants who are responsible for the custody
     of the records;

C. Those parties authorized by state or federal law for purposes of auditing the
     recordkeeping procedures of the district.

If an eligible student or student's parent(s) believe the education records relating to the student contain information that is inaccurate, misleading or in violation of the student's rights of privacy or other rights, he/she may ask the building level principal where the record is maintained to amend the record.

The principal shall decide, after consulting with the necessary staff, whether to amend the record as requested within a reasonable time after the request to amend has been made.

The request to amend the student's education record shall become a permanent part of the student's education record.

If the principal decides not to amend the record as requested, the eligible student or the student's parent(s) shall be informed of the decision and of his/her right to appeal the decision by requesting a hearing.                                  

If the building level principal decides not to amend the education record of a student as requested by the eligible student or the student's parent(s), the eligible student or student's parent(s) may request a formal hearing for the purpose of challenging information in the education record as inaccurate, misleading or in violation of the privacy or other rights of the student.  The superintendent or his/her designee shall be the hearings officer.  The hearings officer will establish a date, time and location for the hearing.  The hearing will be held within 10 working days of receiving the written or verbal request for the hearing. 

The hearings officer will convene and preside over a hearing panel consisting of: (1) the principal or his/her designee, (2) a member chosen by the eligible student or student's parent(s) and (3) a disinterested, qualified third party appointed by the superintendent.  The hearings shall be private.  Persons other than the student, parent, witnesses and counsel shall not be admitted.  The hearings officer shall preside over the panel.  The panel will hear evidence from the school staff and the eligible student or student's parent(s) to determine the point(s) of disagreement concerning the records.  Confidential conversations between a licensed employee or district counselor and a student shall not be part of the records hearing procedure.  The eligible student or student's parent(s) has the right to insert written comments or explanations into the record regarding the disputed material.  Such inserts shall remain in the education record as long as the education record or contested portion is maintained and exists.  The panel shall make a determination after hearing the evidence and make its recommendation in writing within 10 working days following the close of the hearing.  The panel will make a determination based solely on the evidence presented at the hearing and will include a summary of the evidence and the reason for the decision.  The findings of the panel shall be rendered in writing not more than 10 working days following the close of the hearing and submitted to all parties.

If, as a result of the hearing, the panel decides that the information in the education record is not inaccurate, misleading or otherwise in violation of the privacy or other rights of the student, it shall inform the eligible student or the student's parent(s) of the right to place a statement in the record commenting on the contested information in the record or stating why he/she disagrees with the decision of the panel.  If, as a result of the hearing, the panel decides that the information is inaccurate, misleading or otherwise in violation of the privacy or other rights of the student, it shall:

A.  Amend the record accordingly; and
B.  Inform the eligible student or the student's parent(s) of the amendment in writing.

The district shall, within 10 days of a student seeking initial enrollment in or services from the district, notify the public or private school, ESD, institution, agency or youth care center in which the student was formerly enrolled and shall request the student's education records.    

The district shall, subject to ORS 339.260, transfer originals of all requested student education records, including any ESD records, relating to the particular student to the new educational agency when a request to transfer the education records is made to the district.  The transfer shall be made no later than 10 days after receipt of the request.  Readable copies of the following documents shall be retained:

A.  The student's permanent records, for one year;
B.  Such special education records as are necessary to document compliance with
     state and federal audits, for five years after the end of the school year in which
     the original was created.

On any form that requests the social security number (SSN), the following statement shall appear just above the space for the SSN:

"Providing your social security number (SSN) is voluntary.  If you provide it, the school district will use your SSN for record-keeping, research, and reporting purposes only.  The school district will not use your SSN to make any decision directly affecting you or any other person.  Your SSN will not be given to the general public.  If you choose not to provide your SSN, you will not be denied any rights as a student.  Please read the statement on the back of this form that describes how your SSN will be used.  Providing your SSN means that you consent to the use of your SSN in the manner described."

On the back of the same form, or attached to it, the following statement shall appear:

OAR 581-21-250 (1)(j) authorizes school districts to ask you to provide your social security number (SSN).  The SSN will be used by the district for reporting, research and recordkeeping.  Your SSN will also be provided to the Oregon Department of Education.  The Oregon Department of Education gathers information about students and programs to meet state and federal statistical reporting requirements.  It also helps school districts and the state research, plan and develop educational programs.  This information supports the evaluation of educational programs and student success in the workplace.

The school district and Oregon Department of Education may also match your SSN with records from other agencies as follows:

The Oregon Department of Education uses information gathered from the Oregon Employment Division to learn about education, training and job market trends.  The information is also used for planning, research and program improvement.

State and private universities, colleges, community colleges and vocational schools use the information to find out how many students go on with their education and their level of success.

Other state agencies use the information to help state and local agencies plan educational and training services to help Oregon citizens get the best jobs available.

Your SSN will be used only for statistical purposes as listed above.  State and federal law protects the privacy of your records.

[1]OAR 581-021-0250 (1)(j): A statement that the educational agency or institution will request the social security number of a student and will include the social security number of a student on the permanent student record only if the parent or eligible student complies with the request.  The request shall include notification to the parent or eligible student that the provision of the social security number is voluntary and notification of the purposes of which the social security number will be used.