If you have any questions regarding student privacy or the content on this page, please contact Mr. Brett Nelson, Superintendent USD 379, 785-632-3176, brettnelson@usd379.org 

In accordance with the Student Data Privacy Act and board policy IDEA, student data submitted to or maintained in a statewide longitudinal data system may only be disclosed as fellows. Such data may be disclosed to:

• The authorized personnel of an educational agency or the state board of regents who require disclosures to perform assigned duties; and

• The student and the parent or legal guardian of the student, provided the data pertains solely to the student.

Student data may be disclosed to authorized personnel of any state agency, or to a service provider of a state agency, educational agency, or school performing instruction, assessment, or longitudinal reporting, provided a data-sharing agreement between the following:

• purpose, scope and duration of the data-sharing agreement;

• recipient of student data use such information solely for the purposes specified in agreement;

• recipient shall comply with data access, use, and security restrictions specifically described in agreement; and

• student data shall be destroyed when no longer necessary for purposes of the data-sharing agreement or upon expiration of the agreement, whichever occurs first.

*A service provider engaged to perform a function of instruction may be allowed to retain student transcripts as required by applicable laws and rules and regulations.

Unless an adult student or parent or guardian of a minor student provides written consent to disclose personally identifiable student data, student data may only be disclosed to a governmental entity not specified above or any public or private audit and evaluation or research organization if the data is aggregate data. "Aggregate data" means data collected or reported at the group, cohort, or institutional level and which contains no personally identifiable student data.

The district may disclose:

• Student directory information when necessary and the student's parent or legal guardian has consented in writing;

• directory information to an enhancement vendor providing photography services, class ring services, yearbook publishing services, memorabilia services, or similar services;

• any information requiring disclosure pursuant to state statues;

• student data pursuant to any lawful subpoena or court order directing such disclosure; and

• student data to a public or private postsecondary educational institution for purposes of application or admission of a student to such postsecondary educational institution with the student's written consent.

Individual student files are not available for public inspection. Except as provided in IDAE with regard to student records which are student data submitted to or maintained in a statewide longitudinal data system, the custodian of student records shall disclose the student’s educational records only as provided for in this policy.

Directory Information

Annual notice shall be given to parents and eligible students concerning their rights with regard to student records. In addition, the custodian of the educational records shall give annual public notice of the class of records the institution has designated as directory information and of the right of the parent or eligible student to opt-out of the release of directory information without prior written consent. The appropriate forms for providing notice shall be on file in the office of the custodian of the educational records.

After giving notice and allowing a 15-day period of time for parents or eligible students to inform the district that any or all of the directory information should not be released without prior written consent, the custodian of records may make directory information available without parental or eligible student’s consent.

The custodian of records shall make student recruiting information (including student name, address, and telephone listing) available to military recruiters and postsecondary institutions unless parents or eligible students provide a written request to the district providing that the specified information not be released without prior written consent. Notice of the option to opt-out of the release of recruitment information shall be provided to parents and eligible students in the district’s annual notice of rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

For the purposes of this policy, school official means teacher, administrator, other certified employee or board of education. The district may disclose, without the parents or eligible students’ consent, personally identifiable information to school officials with a legitimate educational interest. 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); the school board (in executive session); 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.

The custodian may disclose students’ education records to the following persons without the prior consent of the parents:

• Other school officials, including teachers within the district who have legitimate educational interests;

• Officials of other schools or school systems in which the student intends to enroll. The school district will forward student records to such institutions without further notice to the parents or eligible student when the disclosure is initiated by a parent or eligible student or an annual notice provided to parents and eligible students by the district informs them that such records will be automatically disclosed to these institutions for the purposes of enrollment or transfer of the student;

• Authorized persons to whom a student has applied for or from whom a student has received financial aid;

• State and local officials or authorities to whom such information is specifically required to be reported or disclosed pursuant to state statutes;

• Organizations conducting studies for educational agencies for the purpose of developing, validating or administering student tests or programs;

• Accrediting organizations;

• Parents of a student 18 years of age if parents claim the student as a dependent for income tax purposes;

• Appropriate persons if knowledge of any information is necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or other persons in an emergency;

• An agency caseworker or representative of a state or local child welfare agency or tribal organization who has the right to access a student’s case plan when such agency or organization is legally responsible for the care and protection of the student an when any further disclosure of such information thereby will be limited in accordance with law; and

• In compliance with a lawfully issued subpoena or judicial order.

Access will be granted to any third party upon written authorization of the eligible student, parent or guardian.

No personally identifiable information contained in personal school records shall be furnished to any person other than those, herein. When there is written instruction from the student’s parents, guardian or the eligible student specifying the records, the reasons and the person(s) to whom the release is to be made, a copy of the records to be released shall be made available to the student, parents or guardian upon request. When information is requested in compliance with a judicial order, or pursuant to any lawfully issued subpoena, parent(s)/guardian and the student shall be notified of the orders or subpoenas in advance of compliance, with the order or subpoena unless:

• the order or subpoena specifically forbids such disclosure; or

• the order is issued in the context of a court proceeding where a parent is a party and the proceeding involves child abuse and neglect or dependency matters.

Nothing contained in this policy shall preclude authorized representatives of the Comptroller General of the United States, the Secretary and an administrative head of an educational agency or state authorities from having access to student or other records which may be necessary in connection with the audit and evaluation of federally supported education programs or the enforcement of the federal legal requirements which relate to these programs. The data collection by such official with respect to individual students shall not include information (including social security numbers) which would permit the personal identification of students or their parents or guardian on the data collected and provided.

All persons, agencies or organizations desiring access to the records of a student shall be required to sign a form, which shall be kept permanently with the student’s file, but only for inspection by the parents/guardian, the student or a school official responsible for record maintenance. The form signed shall indicate the specific educational or other interest of each person, agency or organization has in seeking this information.

Personal information shall be transferred to a third party only on the condition that such party shall not permit any other party to have access to such information without the written consent of the student’s parents or the eligible student. The board and staff shall protect the rights of privacy of students and their families in connection with any surveys or data-gathering activities conducted, assisted or authorized by the board or administration. Regulations established under this policy shall include provisions controlling the use, dissemination and protection of such data.

Administrators shall forward student’s school records upon request and may not withhold them for any reason.

Registration Form for USD 379 enrollment (includes student privacy information as well as information regarding military recruitment notifications, media release of names, photos, videos, and release of student information.

Model Notice of Directory Information USD 379

The superintendent, the board of education, and district staff shall protect the right of privacy of students and their families in connection with any surveys or physical examinations conducted, assisted, or authorized by the board or administration. The district shall provide parents notice of their rights under the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment and the Student Data Privacy Act as required by law.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords parents and students who are 18 years of age or older (“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 45 days after the day the “School” receives a request for access.

Parents or eligible students should submit to the school principal a written request that identifies the records they wish to inspect.The school official will make arrangements for access and notify the parent or eligible student of the time and place where the records may be inspected.

1. The right to request the 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, 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 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.

1. The right to provide written consent before the school discloses personally identifiable information (PII) from the student’s education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.

One exception, which permits disclosure without consent, is disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. 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) or a person serving on the school board. A school official also may include a volunteer or contractor outside of the school who performs a institutional service or function for which the school would otherwise use its own employees and who is under the direct control of the school with respect to the use and maintenance of PII from education records, such as an attorney, auditor, medical consultant, or therapist; a parent or student volunteering to serve on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee; or a parent, student, or other volunteer 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, or is already enrolled if the disclosure is for purposes of the student’s enrollment or transfer. (NOTE: FERPA requires a school district to make a reasonable attempt to notify the parent or student of the records request unless it states in its annual notification that it intends to forward records on request.)

1. 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 Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20202

See the list below of the disclosures that elementary and secondary schools may make without consent.

FERPA permits the disclosure of PII from students’ education records, without consent of the parent or eligible student, if the disclosure meets certain conditions found in §99.31 of the FERPA regulations. Except for disclosures to school officials, disclosures related to some judicial orders or lawfully issued subpoenas, disclosures of directory information, and disclosures to the parent or eligible student, §99.32 of the FERPA regulations requires the school to record the disclosure. Parents and eligible students have a right to inspect and review the records of disclosures. A school may disclose PII from the education records of a student without obtaining prior written consent of the parents or the eligible student –

• To other school officials, including teachers, within the educational agency or institution whom the school has determined to have legitimate educational interests. This includes contractors, consultants, volunteers, or other parties to whom the school has outsourced institutional services or functions, provided that the conditions listed in §99.31(a)(1)(B)(1) – (a)(1)(B)(2) are met. (§99.31(a)(1))

• To officials of another school, school system, or institution of postsecondary education where the student seeks or intends to enroll, or where the student is already enrolled if the disclosure is for purposes related to the student’s enrollment or transfer, subject to the requirements of §99.34. (§99.31(a)(2))

• To authorized representatives of the U.S. Comptroller General, the U.S. Attorney General, the U.S. Secretary of Education, or State and local educational authorities, such as the State educational agency (SEA) in the parent or eligible student’s State. Disclosures under this provision may be made, subject to the requirements of §99.35, in connection with an audit or evaluation of Federal- or State-supported education programs, or for the enforcement of or compliance with Federal legal requirements that relate to those programs. These entities may make further disclosures of PII to outside entities that are designated by them as their authorized representatives to conduct any audit, evaluation, or enforcement or compliance activity on their behalf. (§§99.31(a)(3) and 99.35)

• In connection with financial aid for which the student has applied or which the student has received, if the information is necessary to determine eligibility for the aid, determine the amount of the aid, determine the conditions of the aid, or enforce the terms and conditions of the aid. (§99.31(a)(4))

• To State and local officials or authorities to whom information is specifically allowed to be reported or disclosed by a State statute that concerns the juvenile justice system and the system’s ability to effectively serve, prior to adjudication, the student whose records were released, subject to §99.38. (§99.31(a)(5))

• To organizations conducting studies for, or on behalf of, the school, in order to: (a) develop, validate, or administer predictive tests; (b) administer student aid programs; or (c) improve instruction. (§99.31(a)(6))

• To accrediting organizations to carry out their accrediting functions. (§99.31(a)(7))

• To parents of an eligible student if the student is a dependent for IRS tax purposes. (§99.31(a)(8))

• To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena. (§99.31(a)(9))

• To appropriate officials in connection with a health or safety emergency, subject to §99.36. (§99.31(a)(10))

• Information the school has designated as “directory information” under §99.37. (§99.31(a)(11))

LEA TRANSPARENCY DOCUMENTS FOR BEST PRACTICES