The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords parents and students over 18 years
of age (“eligible students”) certain rights with respect to the student’s education records.
These rights are:
1. The right to inspect and review the student’s education records within 45 days of the day the
school receives a request for access.
Parents or eligible students should submit to the school principal a written request that identifies the
record(s) they wish to inspect. The principal will make arrangements for access and notify the parent or
eligible student of the time and place where the records may be inspected.
2. The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records that the parent or eligible
student believes are inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student’s privacy rights under
FERPA.
Parents or eligible students who wish to ask the school to amend a record should write the school
principal, clearly identify the part of the record they want changed, and specify why it should be changed.
If the school decides not to amend the record as requested by the parent or eligible student, the school will
notify the parent or eligible student of the decision and advise them of their right to a hearing regarding
the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to
the parent or eligible student when notified of the right to a hearing.
3. The right to privacy of personally identifiable information in the student’s education records,
except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.
One exception, which permits disclosure without consent, is disclosure to school officials with
legitimate educational interests. A school official is 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
outsourced services or functions it would otherwise use its own employees to perform (such as an
attorney, auditor, medical consultant, or therapist); a parent or student serving on an official committee,
such as a disciplinary or grievance committee; or a parent, student, or other volunteer assisting another
school official in performing his or her tasks.
A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education
record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility.
Upon request, the school discloses education records without consent to officials of another school
district in which a student seeks or intends to enroll, or is already enrolled if the disclosure is for purposes
of the student’s enrollment or transfer.
4. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures
by the School to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the Office that
administers FERPA are:
Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202
Directory Information
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) requires that Murfreesboro City Schools,
with certain exceptions, obtain a parent’s written consent prior to the disclosure of personally identifiable
information from a child’s education records. However, Murfreesboro City Schools may disclose
appropriately designated “directory information” without written consent, unless the parent has advised
the District to the contrary in accordance with District procedures. The primary purpose of directory
information is to allow the Murfreesboro City Schools to include this type of information from your
child’s education records in certain school publications. Examples include:
• A playbill, showing your student’s role in a drama production;
• The annual yearbook;
• Honor roll or other recognition lists;
• Graduation programs; and
• Sports activity sheets, such as showing weight and height of team members.
Directory information, which is information that is generally not considered harmful or an invasion of
privacy if released, can also be disclosed to outside organizations without a parent’s prior written consent.
If you do not want Murfreesboro City Schools to disclose directory information from your child’s
education records without your prior written consent, you must notify the district in writing.
Murfreesboro City Schools has designated the following information as directory information:
• Student’s name
• Address
• Telephone listing
• Electronic mail address
• Photograph
• Date and place of birth
• Dates of attendance
• Grade level
• Participation in officially recognized activities and sports
• Weight and height of members of athletic teams
• Degrees, honors, and awards received
• The most recent educational agency or institution attended
• Student ID number, user ID, or other unique personal identifier used to communicate in electronic
systems that cannot be used to access education records without a PIN, password, etc. (A
student’s SSN, in whole or in part, cannot be used for this purpose.)
Footnotes:
1.These laws are: Section 9528 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 7908) and
10 U.S.C. § 503(c).