Letters from Electronic Privacy Information Center

The Electronic Privacy Information Center, otherwise known as EPIC, has released a series of letters detailing parent and student complaints about the misuse of education records.
EPIC obtained the documents through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The redacted letters, sent from the Education Department to complainants, date back to June. They detail a number of scenarios in which the Education Department tells parents and students that the agency can’t open an investigation based on their complaint because their case doesn’t adequately fall under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA.
In one complaint, the Education Department tells what appears to be the parent of a student attending private or parochial school that an investigation can’t ensue because private and parochial schools generally don’t receive funding from the Education Department, which exempts them from FERPA.
In another complaint, the Education Department asks for more information from a parent who says a school district disclosed his or her student’s test scores to a third party. The department explains that while FERPA stipulates that a school must have a parent’s written consent to share that information with a third party, there are exceptions.

For example, a school can disclose information to “school officials” with a “legitimate educational interest.” “School official” is defined broadly and can include a teacher, administrator, board member and a number of others. The Education Department tells the parent that it isn’t clear which of the school officials, if any, didn’t have a legitimate educational interest to view the student’s test scores. The agency asked the parent for the name and title of the school official and more evidence to back the complaint.