Families and FERPA!

Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), if you are a Parent of a special education student, a school MUST give you the opportunity to inspect and review your student's education records. See § 34 CFR PART 99.10. Upon written request for records, a school must provide you with access to the requested educational records within 45 days. For instance, Susie's mom is concerned that the school did not complete an autism evaluation as agreed under the IEP. Susie's mom may request a copy of the evaluation, and the school MUST provide the evaluative results no later than 45 days from the date of mom's request. Also, if you feel that the record is inaccurate, a Parent may file written notice to the school requesting that an inaccurate record be modified, changed, or updated. If the document is not modified and the Parent has a concern about the inaccurate record, the Parent may then request a formal hearing concerning the record. See § 34 CFR PART 99.21. If the education institution finds that the record is inaccurate, the record will be corrected; however, even if the record is found to be accurate, a written notice that the record is in dispute MUST be added to the Student's file.