Student Records Notice

Board Policy 8330, Student Records

The Oak Creek Franklin Joint School District maintains student records for each student attending school in the District. State and federal laws require that the maintenance of such records assure confidentiality. Accordingly, the following shall apply in the District:

1. An adult student or the parent(s) or guardian(s) of a minor student have the right to inspect, review, and obtain copies of the student's school records upon request in accordance with established District procedures. The District will respond to such requests without delay and in no case more than 45 calendar days after the request is made. Reasonable efforts shall be made to provide student records within 5 business days after the request is made. Copies of the District's student records procedures are available upon request at the Oak Creek Franklin Joint School District Office, 7630 S. 10th Street, Oak Creek, Wisconsin 53154. Regular office hours are 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

 

2. An adult student or the parent(s) or guardian(s) of a minor student has the right to request the amendment of the student's school records if he/she believes the records are inaccurate or misleading. Complaints regarding the content of student records may be made in accordance with established District procedures. Copies of the District's procedures are available upon request as outlined above.

 

3.  An adult student or the parent(s) or guardian(s) of a minor student have the right to consent to the disclosure of information contained in the student's school records, except to the extent that state and federal laws authorize disclosure without consent.   One exception that permits disclosure without consent is disclosure to school officials determined to have legitimate educational or safety interests in the records. A "school official" is a person employed by the District who is required by the Department of Public Instruction to hold a license; a person employed by or working on behalf of the District as an administrator, supervisor, instructor or support staff member (including health or medical staff and police-school liaison personnel); a person serving on the School Board; or a person or company with whom the District has contracted to perform a specific task (such as an attorney, auditor, medical consultant or therapist). A school official has a "legitimate educational or safety interest" if the official needs to review a student record in order to fulfill his/her professional or District responsibility.

 

The District shall transfer a student's records to another school or school district without consent upon request in accordance with state law. District procedures outline the specific reasons for disclosure without consent and are available upon request as outlined above.

 

Directory Information

4. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a federal law, requires that Oak Creek Franklin Joint School District, with certain exceptions, obtain your written consent prior to the disclosure of personally identifiable information from your child’s education records. However, Oak Creek Franklin Joint School District may disclose appropriately designated “directory information” without written consent, unless you have advised the District to the contrary. The primary purpose of directory information is to allow the Oak Creek Franklin Joint School District to include this type of 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 yearbook; honor roll or other recognition lists; graduation programs; news articles and photographs, and sports activity sheets, such as for wrestling, showing weight and height of team members.

 

Directory information is information that is generally not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if released. Directory information may be disclosed to third parties without prior written consent of the parent/guardian (or students over age 18) only when the third party is affiliated with the District or School and when the release of directory information relates to District or School related groups, functions, or purposes, unless you notify the District in writing that you wish to restrict the release of directory information.  Some examples of such releases include but are not limited to: PTO/PTA; booster clubs; parents at school for purposes such as parent-to-parent network programs and class volunteer schedules or volunteer phone trees; high school administration releasing information for school related purposes such as vendors of graduation announcements, class rings, senior pictures, yearbooks, etc.; using photographs of students in school on school or District media or publications such as the website or yearbooks.  

 

Directory data will not be disclosed to any third party requester that is not a District or School sponsored, authorized, affiliated, or recognized entity, with the exception of military recruiters or institutions of higher education (see below).

 

In addition, two federal laws require the District to provide military recruiters and institutions of higher education with directory information upon request. These laws are: Section 9528 of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. 7908), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (P.L. l07-110) and 10 U.S.C. 503, as amended by section 544, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (P.L. 107-107).  Parents/guardians of secondary school students have a right to request the District not to release the high school student’s name, home address, telephone number and District issued electronic  mail address to military recruiters or high school student’s name, home address, or telephone number to institutions of higher education without prior written parental consent.

 

Consistent with state statute, the Oak Creek Franklin Joint School District has designated the following information as directory information:

 

 

If you do not want the Oak Creek Franklin Joint School District to disclose directory information as defined above without your prior written consent, you must notify the District in writing no later than two weeks (14 days) after the start of the school year, date of enrollment, or receipt of this notice. The OPT-OUT FROM STUDENT DIRECTORY DATA AND DISCLOSURES OF STUDENT CONTACT INFORMATION form is available for this purpose. This form is available at your child’s school office. The most recent form filed for a student will remain in effect until a new form is filed. State law provides that you do not have to file a new form each year. Should you submit this form later in the school year (after the two week deadline from the start of the school year, date of enrollment, or receipt of this notice), the District will stop the release of directory data at that time. 

 

If you do not complete the OPT-OUT FROM STUDENT DIRECTORY DATA AND DISCLOSURES OF STUDENT CONTACT INFORMATION form at the time of your student’s initial enrollment, you have 14 days within which to complete this form and return it to the school. If you do not complete and return this form to the school within the 14-day time period, the school district WILL NOT withhold directory data/information regarding your student.

 

5. An adult student or the parent(s) or guardian(s) of a minor student have the right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education for alleged District noncompliance with federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) requirements. 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.