Community Groups

Most schools are just one part of a student’s overall educational experience. Schools are a partner in a larger community of caring. There are before and after school programs. There are programs in schools, and programs in community centers. These programs can serve students an additional 20 hours per week on average. The grant funding for these programs is often tied to measurable student performance outcomes. 

For example; Does Kid A who attends YouthCity, have a more enriched socio-educational experience than his peers who don't participate in a program? 

How do we fit in? 

Well, a community partner may request data about students that they serve. They may want attendance data, grades, or maybe even their behavior during the school day. And the question is, can you share this information? 

The answer is… it depends

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, generally requires that a school obtain written parental consent before disclosing records. So this is one option. We will provide model consent forms that you can use or adapt for obtaining this consent.

Depending on the nature of the community partner and the work they’re doing, there may be an exception to the written consent rule. The most likely exceptions would be

• School official
• Studies
• Audit/evaluation

For more information on how to follow these requirements, please refer to the document from the Privacy Technical Assistance Center later in this module. 

Also note that under Utah law, if you enter a contract with a third party, there are certain required privacy provisions that must appear in the agreement. We will go over these and provide you with model language later in this module. 

As a member of a student’s community of caring, we can work in conjunction with other programs to create, enrich, and sustain partnerships that strengthen all of a student’s educational supports.

R277-715-1. Authority and Purpose.

(1) This rule is authorized by:

(a) Utah Constitution Article X, Section 3, which vests general control and supervision over public education in the Board;

(b) Subsection 53E-4-301(4), which allows the Board to make rules to execute the Board's duties and responsibilities under the Utah Constitution and state law; and

(c) Section 53E-3-508, which requires the Board to adopt rules to set standards for high quality out-of-school time programs.

(2) The purpose of this rule is to set standards for high quality out-of-school time programs, and establish the programs required to adopt those standards.

R277-715-2. Definitions.

(1) "Assessment tool" means the Utah After-school Program Quality Assessment and Improvement Tool developed by a statewide multi-agency stakeholder group and administered by the Utah After-school Network.

(2) "Out-of-school time" means time that a student at a participating program is engaged in a learning environment that is not during regular school hours, including before school, after school, and during the summer.

(3) "Participating program" means a program that receives funds from the Board or from the Department of Workforce Services to support the program's out-of-school time programming.

R277-715-3. Requirements and Standards for High Quality Out-of-School Time Programs.

(1) A participating program shall:

(a) use the assessment tool to determine the extent to which the program is meeting the standards described in this Section;

(b) ensure that it is working toward achieving the standards described in this Section; and

(c) collect and submit student attendance data to the Superintendent in a format prescribed by the Superintendent.

(2) The Superintendent shall provide for a flag in a student's data file to indicate the student's attendance in a participating program.

(3) The safety standard includes the following components in order to provide a safe, healthy, and nurturing environment for all participants, including that:

(a) staff are professionally qualified to work with program participants;

(b) policies and procedures are established and implemented to ensure the health and safety of all program participants;

(c) program participants are carefully supervised to maintain safety;

(d) a transportation policy is established and communicated to staff and families of participants; and

(e) a consistent and responsive behavior management plan is established and implemented.

(4) The relationships standard includes the following components in order to develop and maintain positive relationships among staff, participants, families, schools, and communities, including that:

(a) staff and participants know, respect, and support each other;

(b) the program communicates and collaborates with the school and the community; and

(c) the program fosters family involvement to support program goals.

Is prior written consent of the parent or eligible student required to disclose information to community-based organizations?

In most cases, yes. Written consent is generally required before PII from students’ education records may be disclosed to community-based organizations. Except as set forth in § 99.31 of the regulations and in the statutory exceptions to consent at 20 U.S.C. 1232g, FERPA requires written consent from parents or eligible students before PII from education records are disclosed (34 CFR § 99.30).

Who is responsible for obtaining written consent from the parent or eligible student - the school or the community-based organization?

FERPA does not address this. Rather, FERPA requires that the parent or eligible student “provide a signed and dated written consent” before a school or LEA discloses PII from a student’s education record, unless one of the conditions in § 99.31 of the regulations applies. There is nothing in FERPA that would preclude a community-based organization from obtaining a signed and dated written consent as long as the consent:

(1) specifies the education records that may be disclosed,

(2) states the purpose of the disclosures; and

(3) identifies the organization or other parties to whom the disclosure may be made.

Are there limitations as to how the community-based organization may use the PII from education records it receives from a school under the school official exception?

Yes. A community-based organization acting as a school official must be under the ‘‘direct control’’ of the school or LEA with respect to the use and maintenance of education records (§ 99.31(a)(1)(i)(B)(2)) and is also subject to FERPA’s use and redisclosure requirements in § 99.33(a). The community-based organization must not disclose the information it receives as a school official to any other party without the prior consent of the parent or eligible student, and the organization may only use the information for the purposes for which the disclosure was made.

*A written agreement is one way of achieving direct control.

Are there any limitations as to what education records may be disclosed to a community-based organization to which a school has outsourced an institutional service under the school official exception?

Yes. The school is required to use reasonable methods to ensure that school officials, (including community-based organizations) obtain access to only those education records in which they have legitimate educational interests. While a school may disclose education records to a community-based organization in order to outsource institutional services or functions, it is important for the school to only share the information which is necessary for the service or function to be performed by the community-based organization.

May the school or LEA non-consensually disclose PII from education records to a community-based organization that is conducting a study for the school or LEA?

Yes. The studies exception allows for the disclosure of PII from education records without consent to community-based organizations conducting studies for, or on behalf of, the school or LEA. FERPA limits the purpose of the studies conducted under this exception to: (1) developing, validating, or administering predictive tests; (2) administering student aid programs; or (3) improving instruction. 

*For conducting a study, a written agreement is required.

If a school or LEA discloses PII from education records to a community-based organization under a FERPA exception to consent, what and how much PII from education records can it disclose to the organization? 

The school or LEA has discretion under FERPA to decide what and how much PII from education records to disclose to community-based organizations (except in certain cases such as a court order or a subpoena).  The school or LEA should determine which data elements are necessary for the activity in question and provide only those elements.  Often LEAs and schools will discover that the organization can do the work in question without receiving PII from education records.

Must a school have a written agreement or contract with a community-based organization to which it non-consensually discloses education records to outsource an institutional service under the school official exception? 

No. While FERPA does not require written agreements or contracts when a school chooses to outsource an institutional service or function to a community-based organization under the “school official” exception, we highly recommend the use of written agreements in this context. Written agreements help ensure that the community-based organization understands its obligations and responsibilities with respect to the use of and privacy protections accorded to the FERPA protected information.  Further, appropriate contractual provisions can establish the direct control required by FERPA under this exception.  Additionally, local or State policies or laws may require the use of written agreements or contracts for procurement.

Devin's Day at School

You just picked up Devin from school in your program van. On the way back to the program you overhear something about an incident that happened that day. After arriving at your facility, you observe that Devin isn’t in a good mood, and is struggling in his interaction with the other kids. Some of the kids tell you that Devin was involved in a fight, but he doesn’t want to talk about it.

• Can I ask the school about the incident?
• Can you ask Devin's parents about the incident?
• If it happened on the way to the van, is it your jurisdiction?
• How much detail do you really need?

Lily's Homework

Lily’s mom tells the afterschool program that she is not doing her Writing homework. Lily routinely says that she doesn’t have any writing homework to the after-school program staff.

• Can Lily’s Writing teacher communicate with the after-school program on her writing homework?
• Can you help Lily’s mom by helping to monitor Lily’s homework completion using Power School?
• Can you connect with all of Lily’s teachers to make sure she’s compliant in other subjects?

Report Cards for Reports

It’s report card day. Your program needs access to the grades of the students you serve for grant reporting purposes.

• IS the school required to give them to you?
• Can you ask the kids to look at their report cards?
• If your program has an agreement with the school, what do you do if the school doesn’t comply?

Community Partnerships

You work with a community partner who is using your participant data for their grant reporting.

• Does FERPA permit you to share this information with the community partner?

Custody Chaos

Jenny’s parents have been divorced for as long as she’s been in your program. Dad and Grandma are the primary caregivers. You haven’t ever met her mom. However, Jenny’s mom just arrived at your program. You know it’s her mom, Debra, because that’s how Jenny identified her. Debra asks you to see Jenny’s registration file.

• Are you required to provide that to the parent?
• Does custody matter?

OST APB

A Police Officer is investigating an incident and comes to your after-school program and asks if a participant is in attendance.

• Can you tell them if they are in attendance today? 

Courthouse Conundrum

You are regulated by FERPA and are provided with a court order for all registration documents of a program participant.

• Are you required to provide the registration documents?

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