Newton County Schools

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”) affords natural parents/guardians, stepparents (in some cases), and students over 18 years of age (“eligible students”) certain rights with respect to the student’s education records as follows:

1. The right to inspect and review the student’s education records within 45 days of the day the District receives a request for access. Parents/Guardians or eligible students should submit to the FERPA Compliance Coordinator a written request that identifies the record(s) they wish to inspect. The FERPA Compliance Coordinator will arrange for access and notify the parent or eligible student of the time and place where the records may be inspected.
   
   
2. The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records that the parent or eligible student believes is inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of the student’s rights of privacy. Requests must be submitted in writing to the FERPA Compliance Coordinator, clearly identify the part of the record in question, and specify why it is inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of the student’s rights of privacy. The District will notify the parent or eligible student of the decision and advise them of their right to a hearing if the request is denied. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided 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 authorizes disclosure without consent. The following is a limited, non-exhaustive list of some of the disclosures permitted by FERPA without consent:

• FERPA permits disclosure without consent to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official includes any person employed by the District 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 district has contracted to perform a special task (such as an attorney, auditor, medical consultant, or therapist); 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 person employed by, under contract to, or acting on behalf of the District to perform an institutional service or function.
  • In addition, a contractor, consultant, or volunteer – such as providers of educational technology services – may be considered a school official when the District outsources an institutional service or function to them. To qualify, the provider must (1) perform a service or function the District would otherwise use employees to provide; (2) be under the direct control of the District with respect to the use and maintenance of education records; and (3) comply with 34 C.F.R. § 99.33, which limits the use and redisclosure of personally identifiable information. For example, Google Workspace for Education (including Google Classroom, Docs, and Drive) and YouTube, when used for instructional purposes, are designated as school officials when used by the District to provide classroom and instructional services. These providers may use education records only as necessary to carry out their contracted services.
    
    
  • 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
    
    
• FERPA permits disclosure without consent to appropriate officials in health or safety emergencies so long as the disclosure is necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or others.
  
  
• FERPA permits disclosure without consent in response to a lawfully issued judicial order or subpoena.
  
  
• FERPA permits disclosure of education records without consent to officials of another school in which a student seeks or intends to enroll.
  
  
• FERPA permits disclosure without consent to an agency caseworker or other representative of a state or local child welfare agency who has the right to access a student’s case plan.

The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the District to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the office that administers FERPA is:

Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202-4605

Exceptions to restricted access of student records are set forth in law and include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. In the event that part or all of a student’s record may be made available in compliance with a judicial order or any lawfully issued subpoena, advance notice of such compliance will be given to parents and eligible students unless the law permits or requires that a notice not be given.
   
   
2. In the event of an emergency, appropriate persons will be given access to a student’s records if knowledge of information contained therein is necessary to protect the health and safety of a student or other persons.
   
   
3. If students move to another attendance area within the school system or seek to enroll in a school outside of the system, students’ records will be sent to the new school upon official request from that school.

Directory Information under FERPA constitutes information contained in students’ education records that would not be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if released. Under FERPA, Newton County Schools may disclose directory information without parental consent. The primary purpose of directory information is to allow the school district to include a student’s education records in certain school publications or school-related activities, such as, but not limited to honor roll, graduation programs, sports participation/recognition, yearbook, and a playbill from a drama production.

Directory information is information contained in a student’s education records that would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if released. The District may disclose directory information without prior consent unless the parent, guardian, or eligible student requests otherwise. The District has designated the following as directory information:

• The student’s name, student ID number, address, electronic mail address, and telephone number;
• The student’s date and place of birth;
• Location and dates of attendance within the school district;
• Participation in officially recognized activities and sports;
• The weight and height of members of athletic teams;
• Photograph;
• Grade level;
• Name of the most recent educational agency or school attended by the student;
• Dates of enrollment at Newton County Schools; and,
• Honors, awards, and other recognition connected with student performance at school.

Unless the parent/guardian or eligible student submits a written objection, directory information may be disclosed to the public upon request. In accordance with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) the district must provide certain directory information – specifically, names, addresses, and telephone numbers – to military recruiters and institutions of higher education upon request, unless the parent/guardian or eligible student opts out.

Written objections to the disclosure of this information must be submitted within ten (10) days of the publication of this notice. By law, social security numbers are not designated as directory information and are kept strictly confidential. Parents/guardians or eligible students may refuse to allow any of their student’s information to be designated as directory information by submitting written notice to the principal within ten (10) days of the publication of this notice.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Notice

The District complies with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which imposes requirements on operators of websites and online services directed to children under age 13. The District uses several computer software applications and web-based services operated by third-party providers to support classroom instruction. In order for students to use these programs, limited personal information – generally the student’s name and district-issued email address – may be shared with the website operator. Under COPPA, the District may provide this consent on behalf of parents for students under 13, which allows students to access educational tools without requiring individual parental consent for each program. Parents with questions regarding online instructional tools or how their child’s data is used may contact the school principal. For more information about COPPA, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website: https://www.ftc.gov/businessguidance/resources/complying-coppa-frequently-asked-questions.

The law permits school districts to consent to the collection of personal information on behalf of all of its students, thereby eliminating the need for individual parental consent given directly to the website operator. Parents with questions regarding the use of websites and other online instructional supports by their child are encouraged to contact the principal at their child’s school.

For additional questions about FERPA, directory information, or student privacy practices, please contact:

Dr. Andrea Kinney
Executive Director of Student Services
Newton County Schools
2109 Newton Drive, NE
Covington, Georgia 30014
770-787-1330 • [email protected]