The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education. This notice is Moon Area School District's annual notice of your rights under FERPA. 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. Students to whom the rights have transferred are "eligible students." Parents or eligible students have the right to inspect and review the student's education records maintained by the school. Schools are not required to provide copies of records unless, for reasons such as great distance, it is impossible for parents or eligible students to review the records. Schools may charge a fee for copies.
Parents or eligible students have the right to request that a school correct records which they believe to be inaccurate or misleading. If the school decides not to amend the record, the parent or eligible student then has the right to a formal hearing. After the hearing, if the school still decides not to amend the record, the parent or eligible student has the right to place a statement with the record setting forth his or her view about the contested information.
Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student's education record. However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the following parties or under the following conditions (34 CFR § 99.31):
School officials with legitimate educational interest;
Other schools to which a student is transferring;
Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes;
Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student;
Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school;
Accrediting organizations;
To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena;
Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies; and
State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific State law.
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 and eligible students about directory information and allow parents and eligible students a reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose directory information about them. You can opt out of having your directory information disclosed by notifying your school principal.
Moon Area School District officials include a person employed by the school as an administrator, supervisor, instructor or support staff member (including health or medical staff and law enforcement unit personnel); a person serving on the school board; a person or company with whom the school has contracted to perform a special task (such as attorney, auditor, medical consultant or therapist, technology and software companies), bus drivers, food service personnel or a parent or student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, Pennsylvania Department of Education's Office of General Counsel when performing investigations under the Educator Discipline Act, or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks.
For additional information, you may call 1-800-USA-LEARN (1-800-872-5327) (voice). Individuals who use TDD may use the Federal Relay Service.
Or you may contact us at the following address:
Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20202-8520
If a child transfers to another school system, records will be forwarded after notification of enrollment is received from the new school. High school students’ transcripts will be released to post-secondary or prospective employers with the written permission of the parents or eligible student.
Various non-confidential information can be released to outside agencies. This includes information such as names of academic award winners and athletic team members. If you do not desire this type of information to be released, please notify the building principal in writing. Confidential information such as psychological, psychiatric, and other information regarding students’ special needs may be released only with a written parental request.
According to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, directory information concerning a student may be included in publications such as sports programs, newspapers, radio and television news releases, awards and graduation programs, yearbooks, musical and play programs and other school publications. This directory information may include data relating to a student’s name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, major fields of study, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weights and heights of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received and other similar information. Parents who wish to have their children exempted from published lists of directory information may do so by informing the principal in writing.
Parents or students may request a copy of Moon Area’s student records policy from the building principal or superintendent’s office. If you would like to see any of these records at any time, please call to make an appointment with the principal. For further information regarding this policy, contact: Superintendent, Moon Area School District, 8353 University Boulevard, Moon Township, PA 15108.