FERPA
📋 FERPA Notice
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
Dr. Ijezie's 7th Grade Science Class
📚 What is FERPA?
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their children's education records. These rights transfer to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level.
⚖️ Your Rights Under FERPA
Inspect and Review Educational Records
Parents have the right to inspect and review their child's education records maintained by the school.
- Schools must comply with a request for access within 45 days
- This includes grades, test scores, attendance records, and disciplinary records
- Parents may request explanations and interpretations of the records
Request Amendment of Records
Parents may ask the school to amend a record they believe is inaccurate, misleading, or violates their child's privacy rights.
- Requests must be in writing and clearly identify the issue
- Schools must decide within a reasonable time period
- If denied, parents have the right to a formal hearing
Control Disclosure of Information
Generally, schools must have written permission from parents before releasing any information from a student's education record.
- This includes sharing information with other schools, organizations, or individuals
- Certain exceptions exist (see "Permitted Disclosures" below)
- Parents can file complaints if unauthorized disclosure occurs
✅ Permitted Disclosures (No Consent Required)
FERPA allows schools to disclose records without consent to the following parties or under the following conditions:
Teachers, administrators, and staff with legitimate educational interests
Schools to which a student is transferring
Federal, state, and local authorities conducting audits or evaluations
Organizations conducting studies or administering financial aid
Compliance with court orders, subpoenas, or lawfully issued court orders
Information necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or others
Student written responses are sent to Google Gemini AI for rubric-based grading assistance. All data sent to the AI service is pseudonymized — only student aliases are used, never real names. The teacher retains full authority to review and override all AI-generated grades.
📖 Directory Information
Schools may disclose, without consent, "directory" information such as a student's name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and awards, and dates of attendance. However, schools must tell parents about directory information and allow parents a reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose directory information about their child.
Directory Information May Include:
- Student's name
- Address and phone number
- Email address
- Date and place of birth
- Major field of study
- Grade level
- Enrollment status
- Dates of attendance
- Degrees and awards received
- Previous schools attended
- Participation in activities
- Height/weight (athletes)
🍎 In Dr. Ijezie's Science Classroom
🔒 Privacy Protection
- Student grades are kept confidential
- Only parents/guardians can access their child's records
- No sharing of individual student information with other parents
- Secure storage of all student work and assessments
- Student data is never monetized, sold, or shared for advertising purposes
📞 Communication
- Regular updates on student progress
- Conferences available upon request
- Prompt response to parent inquiries
- Transparent grading policies and rubrics
📋 Record Keeping
- Accurate attendance and grade records
- Documentation of accommodations and interventions
- Secure digital and physical record storage
- Regular backup of electronic records
🔐 Data Minimization
In accordance with data minimization principles and Texas SB 820, we collect only the minimum data necessary for educational purposes. Key practices include:
- Students are identified in the system by pseudonymized aliases, not their real names. The alias-to-name mapping is maintained separately and is accessible only to authorized school personnel.
- Only educationally necessary data is collected: assessment responses, scores, class period, and accommodation flags.
- No biometric data, location data, or social media information is collected.
- Student data is never used to build commercial profiles or for any purpose beyond direct educational benefit.
🗑️ Right to Deletion
Parents and eligible students have the right to request deletion of their student's data from our systems. In accordance with Texas SB 820 (2023), we will fulfill deletion requests within 45 days of receipt.
Deletion includes removal of assessment scores, written responses, AI-generated feedback, and integrity monitoring data associated with the student's alias.
To submit a deletion request, contact Dr. Ijezie-Desbois directly using the contact information below, or submit a written request through the school administration.
🛡️ Assessment Integrity Monitoring
The Scholar's Ascent Assessment Center collects limited assessment integrity data as an educationally necessary function of fair testing. This is comparable to the lockdown features in Google Forms locked mode and other standard educational assessment tools.
Data collected may include:
- Tab-switch count (how many times a student navigated away from the assessment)
- Paste event detection (whether content was pasted into response fields)
- Keystroke timing patterns (to detect anomalous input, not to log content)
This data is used solely for academic integrity purposes, is reviewed by the teacher before any action is taken, and is subject to the same data retention and deletion policies described above.
📝 How to Exercise Your Rights
- Contact Me Directly: Email or schedule a meeting during office hours to discuss your child's records
- Submit Written Request: For formal record reviews or amendments, submit requests in writing
- School Administration: For complex issues, contact the school's main office or counseling department
- District Level: For unresolved concerns, contact the district's student records coordinator
📞 Contact Information
For district-level FERPA questions or complaints:
Contact your school's main office for information about the district's FERPA compliance officer.
📚 Additional FERPA Resources
🏛️ U.S. Department of Education
For detailed FERPA information and complaint procedures, visit the U.S. Department of Education's website or contact their Family Policy Compliance Office.
🏫 Texas Education Agency
The Texas Education Agency provides additional guidance on student privacy rights and educational records specific to Texas schools.