Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) provides parents and students over 18 years of age (“eligible students”) certain rights regarding the student’s education records. These rights are:

(1) The right to inspect and review the student’s education records within 45 days of the day the School receives a request for access.

To request an inspection and review, the parent or eligible student should submit a written request to the Executive Director that identifies the record (s) they wish to inspect. The Executive Director makes arrangements for access and notifies 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.

Parents or eligible students may ask the School to amend a record that they believe is inaccurate. They should write the Executive Director, clearly identify the part of the record they want changed, and specify why it is inaccurate. If the School decides not to amend the record as requested by the parent or eligible student, the School notifies the parent or eligible student of the decision and advises him/her of his/her right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures is 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 allows disclosure without consent.

One exception that permits the School to disclose information without consent is when the School discloses information to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is a person employed by or contracted to provide services to or designated by the contractor to provide services to 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 Board of Directors of the School; a person or company with whom the School has contracted to perform a special task (such as an 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.

Upon request, the School discloses education records without consent to officials of another school district in which a student seeks or intends to enroll.

(4) The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the School 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 Ave., S.W.

Washington, D.C. 20202-4605

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a Federal law, requires that Texas Online Preparatory School, with certain exceptions, obtain your written consent prior to the disclosure of personally identifiable information from your child’s education records. However, Texas Online Preparatory School may disclose appropriately designated “directory information” without written consent, unless you have advised the Texas Online Preparatory School to the contrary in accordance with Texas Online Preparatory School procedures. The primary purpose of directory information is to allow the Texas Online Preparatory School to include information from your child’s education records in certain school publications. Examples include:

• A playbill, showing your student’s role in a drama production;
• The annual yearbook;
• Honor roll or other recognition lists;
• Graduation programs; and
• Sports activity sheets, such as for wrestling, showing weight and height of team members.

Directory information, which is information that is generally not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if released, can also be disclosed to outside organizations without a parent’s prior written consent. Outside organizations include, but are not limited to, companies that manufacture class rings or publish yearbooks. In addition, two federal laws require local educational agencies (LEAs) receiving assistance under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA) to provide military recruiters, upon request, with the following information – names, addresses and telephone listings – unless parents have advised the LEA that they do not want their student’s information disclosed without their prior written consent. These laws are Section 9528 of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. § 7908) and 10 U.S.C. § 503(c).

If you do not want Texas Online Preparatory School to disclose any or all of the types of information designated below as directory information from your child’s education records without your prior written consent, you must notify the Texas Online Preparatory School in writing within 30 days of the student enrollment date. Please send an e-mail identifying the information they do not want disclosed, the student’s name, and the name of the virtual academy or affiliate school in which the student is enrolled to: [email protected]. This e-mail must be sent within 30 days of the student enrollment date. For questions or concerns, please contact TOPS Student Based Enrollment Coordinator, Shelli Stifle, [email protected].

Texas Online Preparatory School has designated the following information as directory information:

• Student’s name
• Address
• Telephone listing
• Electronic mail address
• Photograph
• Date and place of birth
• Major field of study
• Dates of attendance
• Grade level
• Participation in officially recognized activities and sports
• Weight and height of members of athletic teams
• Degrees, honors, and awards received
• The most recent educational agency or institution attended
• Student ID number, user ID, or other unique personal identifier used to communicate in electronic systems but only if the identifier cannot be used to gain access to education records except when used in conjunction with one or more factors that authenticate the user’s identity, such as a PIN, password, or other factor known or possessed only by the authorized user
• A student ID number or other unique personal identifier that is displayed on a student ID badge, but only if the identifier cannot be used to gain access to education records except when used in conjunction with one or more factors that authenticate the user’s identity, such as a PIN, password, or other factor known or possessed only by the authorized user.

Notice of these rights is available, upon request, on audiotape, in Braille, and in languages other than English.