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Rockwood School District

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Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

The Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords parents and students 18 years of age or over or are attending a post-secondary institution at any age ("eligible students") certain rights with respect to the student's education records. These rights are:

  1. The right to inspect and review the student's education records within a reasonable period of time, but in no case more than 45 days after the initial request is made.
    Parents or eligible students should submit to the school principal or permanent records secretary a written request that identifies the record(s) they wish to inspect. The administration will make arrangements for access and review and notify the parent or eligible student of the time and place where the records may be inspected.
  2. The right to request an amendment of the student's education records that the parent or eligible student believes are inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student's privacy rights under FERPA.
    Parents or eligible students who wish to ask the school to amend a record should write the school principal or permanent records secretary, clearly identify the part of the record they want changed, and specify why it should be changed. If the school decides not to amend the record as requested by the parent or eligible student, the school will notify the parent or eligible student of the decision and advise them of their right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the parent or eligible student when notified of the right to a hearing.
  3. The right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student's education records, except to the extent that FERPA and applicable law authorizes disclosure without consent.
    The District is permitted to disclose education records to school officials with legitimate educational interests without consent. A school official is a person employed by the school as an administrator, supervisor, instructor, or support staff member (including health or medical staff and law enforcement unit personnel); a person serving on the school board; a person or company with whom the school has contracted as its agent to provide a service instead of using its own employees or officials (such as an online instructional service provider, photography company, attorney, auditor, medical consultant, or therapist); or a parent or student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility or function within the district.
  4. Parents/Guardians and eligible students have the right to obtain a copy of the Rockwood School District Policy and Regulation 2400 which is located on the District's BoardDocs website. Regulation 2400 contains all the exceptions permitting disclosure of student education records without consent.
  5. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the school district to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the Office that administers FERPA are:
    Family Policy Compliance Office
    U.S. Department of Education
    400 Maryland Avenue, SW
    Washington, DC 20202-5920
    (1-800-872-5327)

Under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), certain information about students has been designated as "Directory Information."

The Rockwood School Board, in Regulation 2400, has identified directory information that includes, but is not limited to: student's name; student's birth date; the name of the student's parent/guardian or other family member; the address of the student or student's family; the email address of the secondary student; the email address of the student's parent/guardian*; the phone number of the student or student's family; grade level; major field of study; participation in officially recognized activities and sports; weight and height of members of athletic teams; dates of attendance; degrees, awards and honors received; the most recent previous school attended; photographs; and teacher, team or classroom assignment.

*Per Regulation 2400 the disclosure of email addresses as directory information will not be permitted when requested by a candidate for a political office, or if such information will be used by any candidate for a political office in any election.

The Rockwood School District may disclose this directory information without a parent's consent.

This information is requested annually, and must be renewed annually. If you do not want this information released, you have the right to refuse its disclosure. You may do this by providing the district with digital notice via Infinite Campus Census Verification or written notice . Attached to this letter is a "Refusal to Permit Disclosure Form."

Complete the process to exclude the listed information regarding your child in the Infinite Campus Online Census Verification process or return the attached form. Please note that Rockwood School District is using a new method for excluding the release of directory information for the 2023-2024 school year. If you choose to refuse disclosure of directory information all of the information listed below will be excluded from disclosure.

If you decide to refuse the release of this information, please refer to the clarifying information below:

  • Names, addresses, phone numbers, birth dates, email address: If you choose to exclude directory information for your child, it will not be printed in the Buzz Book or on any class-type lists. This would exclude your child from being included in the Buzz Book, on lists for Valentine's Day, birthday announcements, PTO lists, etc. If your phone number is shown as unlisted in our student management system, it will not be included in directory information.
  • Degrees and awards received: This information would include activities such as winning the spelling bee, being the Geography Bee Champion, and winning scholarships. Information published for Honors Night would also fall into this category. Any awards received by your child will be excluded from any district publications and/or awards ceremonies.
  • Photographs: This includes any/all photographs taken at school. Your child's picture will not appear in any district publication, including the yearbook (this is the official school yearbook photograph taken by the contracted photographer) and/or team pictures. This does not include candid shots taken at public events or referencing those photographs in the index of the yearbook. NOTE: If a parent has a situation in which exclusion of a child's photograph is critical, please contact the Executive Director of Student Services or designee.
  • Military Recruiters: Military recruiters may request names, addresses and phone numbers of high school students. You may exclude your child's information from being released to the military by checking the appropriate box in the Infinite Campus Census Verification.

Infinite Campus Online Census Verification or the Refusal to Permit Disclosure forms need to be signed, dated, and returned to the main office of your child’s school. Again, only choose to exclude the directory information in the Infinite Campus Online Census Verification or return this form if you wish to have directory information about your child excluded. If you should have any questions, please contact the Executive Director of Student Services or designee at 636-733-2189.