FERPA Questions
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
FERPA, passed in 1974, requires schools to protect the privacy of students' "educational records." This doesn't mean that we can never publish any student's name; it means that we cannot publish "records, files, documents, and other materials which (i) contain information directly related to a student; and (ii) are maintained by an educational agency or institution or person acting for such agency or institution."
That means we cannot publish, for example:
- An individual student's report card obtained from JCPS
- An Individual student's disciplinary record obtained from JCPS
- An individual student's medical records obtained from JCPS
But we can publish, for example:
- Quotes from individual students telling us what their grades are
- A copy of a disciplinary referral provided to us by a student's family
- First-person articles written by students about their medical issues
- Parking citations received by students
- Security video of students on school property
- Information about an athlete's injury suffered in full view at a public event and confirmed by the athlete's coach
The question of whether or not we can publish something is separate from the question of whether or not we should publish something. The SPJ Code of Ethics should factor strongly into the latter discussion.
Essential reading: SPLC white paper on FERPA
Excerpts from that SPLC PDF:
"Information students gather during interviews—for example, a student’s discussion of his failing grades or his disciplinary record—is not 'FERPA information,' and publication of the information violates no federal prohibition."
"The Department of Education’s chief FERPA officer said in a 1993 letter that FERPA does not apply to disclosures by student media outlets, since their information does not come from confidential school records."
"Reports involving misconduct by school or college employees do not fall within FERPA, even if students are mentioned as victims or as complainants."
"If it is possible to redact only the identifying information that makes an education record traceable to an individual student, then the personal information must be redacted and the remaining document disclosed."
