Virginia Law

A. The school shall have written policy and procedures for the management of all records, print and nonprint, regarding confidentiality, accessibility, security, retention, and disposition.

B. Student education records shall be maintained in fire resistant cabinets.

C. Each student's education record shall contain information pertinent to the educational growth and development to include a completed enrollment sheet; a current IEP, 504 Plan, or IIP; student transcript; course of studies; and progress reports. Other information should include disciplinary records, health records, and achievement and test data.

D. Written consent from the child's parent shall be obtained before disclosure of information from a student's education record to unauthorized parties. Authorized parties shall be limited to school employees, including contracted employees, and representatives of placing school divisions, accrediting agencies, and state licensing agencies who need access to the student's records to carry out their work responsibilities.

E. Information may be disclosed in an emergency to any person who needs that particular information for the purpose of preventing injury to a student or staff. The school shall not disclose any information that is not needed for this specific purpose.

F. The school shall permit a parent to inspect and review any education records relating to the child that are collected, maintained, or used by the school. The school shall comply with a request without unnecessary delay and before any meeting regarding an IEP or 504 Plan. The right to inspect and review education records under this section includes:

1. The right to a response from the school to reasonable requests for explanations and interpretations of the records;

2. The right to request that the school provide copies of the records containing the information if failure to provide those copies would effectively prevent the parent from exercising the right to inspect and review the records;

3. The right to have a representative of the parent inspect and review the records; and

4. A school may presume that a parent has authority to inspect and review records relating to his child unless the school has been advised that the parent does not have the authority under applicable Virginia law governing such matters as guardianship, separation, and divorce.

G. Each school shall keep a record of parties, except parents and authorized employees of the school, obtaining access to education records collected or maintained, including the name of the party, the date of access, and the purpose of the access.

H. If any education record includes information on more than one child, the parent has the right to inspect and review only the information relating to his child or to be informed of the specific information requested.

I. Schools may charge a fee for copies of records that are made for a parent under this chapter if the fee does not effectively prevent the parent from exercising his right to inspect and review those records. A school may not charge a fee to search for or to retrieve information under this section.

J. A parent who believes that information in the education records collected, maintained, or used under this chapter is inaccurate or misleading or violates the privacy or other rights of the child may request the school that maintains the information to amend the information.

1. The school shall decide whether to amend the information in accordance with the request within a reasonable period of time.

2. If the school decides to refuse to amend the information in accordance with the request, it shall inform the parent of the refusal and inform the parent of the right to place in the child's education records a statement commenting on the information or setting forth any reasons for disagreeing with the decision of the school.

3. Any explanation placed in the records of the child under this section must:

a. Be maintained by the school as part of the records of the child as long as the record or contested portion is maintained by the school; and

b. If the records of the child or the contested portion is disclosed by the school to any party, the explanation must also be disclosed to the party.

K. When a privately placed student graduates or leaves school, the student's education record shall be offered to the eligible student or parent. The records of a publically placed student who graduates or leaves school shall be transferred to the child's home school.

L. Each school shall maintain a permanent record of attendance to include the following:

1. Name and address of school;

2. Name, address, and birth date of student;

3. Name and address of the home school division for publically placed students;

4. Name and address of the parent;

5. Student ID number;

6. Dates of attendance; and

7. Academic transcript.