Privacy Information

PPRA gives parents the right to:

1. Provide written consent before students are required to take a survey that concerns one or more of the following protected areas (“protected information survey”) if the survey is funded in whole or in part by a program of the U.S. Department of Education (ED):
   • Political affiliations or beliefs of the student or student’s parent
   • Mental or psychological problems of the student or student’s family
   • Sex behavior or attitudes
   • Illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating, or demeaning behavior
   • Critical appraisals of other individuals with whom respondents have close family relationships
   • Legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships, such as those of lawyers, physicians, or ministers
   • Religious practices, affiliations, or beliefs of the student or student’s parent
   • Income (other than that required by law to determine eligibility for participation in a program or for receiving financial assistance under such program)
2. Receive notice and an opportunity to opt a student out of:
   • Any other protected information survey, regardless of funding
   • Any non-emergency, invasive physical exam or screening required as a condition of attendance, administered by the school or its agent, and not necessary to protect the immediate health and safety of a student, except for hearing, vision, or scoliosis screenings, or any physical exam or screening permitted or required under state law
   • Activities involving collection, disclosure, or use of personal information obtained from students for marketing or to sell or otherwise distribute the information to others
3. Inspect, upon request and before administration or use:
   • Protected information surveys of students
   • Instruments used to collect personal information from students for any of the above marketing, sales, or other distribution purposes
   • Instructional material used as part of the educational curriculum

These privacy rights transfer from the parents to a student who is 18 years old or an emancipated minor under state law.

Lake Washington School District has developed processes regarding these rights. The district has made arrangements to protect student privacy in the administration of protected information surveys and the collection, disclosure, or use of personal information for marketing, sales, or other distribution purposes. Lake Washington will directly notify parents of these policies after any substantive changes, in addition to this yearly notice. The district will also directly notify, such as through U.S. Mail or email, parents of students who are scheduled to participate in the specific activities or surveys noted below and will provide an opportunity for the parent to opt the student out of participation of the specific activity or survey.

Lake Washington will make this notification to parents at the beginning of the school year if the district has identified the specific or approximate dates of the activities or surveys at that time. For surveys and activities scheduled after the school year starts, parents will be provided reasonable notification of the planned activities and surveys listed below and will be provided an opportunity to opt their student out of such activities and surveys. Parents will also be given a chance to review any pertinent surveys.

Following is a list of the specific activities and surveys covered under this requirement:

• Collection, disclosure, or use of personal information for marketing, sales or other distribution
• Administration of any protected information survey not funded in whole or in part by the U.S. Department of Education
• Any non-emergency, invasive physical examination or screening as described above

Parents who believe their rights have been violated may file a complaint using the form available at https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/file-a-complaint. The form can be mailed to: Student Privacy Policy Office, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20202-8520 or emailed to FERPA.Complaints@ed.gov.

Releasing Student Information

Although there are some exceptions, in general, the district cannot release information about a student without written consent from a parent/guardian.

Exceptions to Releasing Student Information

One exception is that the district can forward educational records on request to a school in which a student plans to enroll.

A second exception is that student information may also be given to school officials with legitimate educational interests. FERPA defines “school official” to include “a contractor, consultant, volunteer, or other party to whom an agency of institution has outsourced institutional services or functions.” A school official may therefore include an administrator, supervisor, instructor, or support staff member (including health or medical staff and law enforcement unit personnel); a student teacher; a person serving on the School Board; contractors (a person or company with whom the district has contracted to perform a special task or service, such as an attorney, auditor, medical consultant, therapist, Learning Management System or provider of educational digital tool or digital curriculum which has undergone district review and approval as meeting contractor status under FERPA); consultants; volunteers; or a parent or student serving on an official committee or assisting another school official in performing duties. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill professional responsibilities.

The district’s approved learning management system, digital tool and curriculum providers are also compliant with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Student information shared with these providers is done on a need-to-know basis, used solely for the delivery of educational services to the district and not for any commercial purpose.

Directory Information

The district is allowed to release "directory information" to a requestor, outside of the district, unless the parent/guardian requests information be withheld by completing the Directory Information withhold process. Directory information is information that would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed. The district’s approved consultants under the school official exception to FERPA are considered part of the district. Information is only released through an official Public Records Request.

The following information is considered directory information:

• Student’s full legal name
• Address
• Email addresses: parent/guardian and school-assigned
• Phone number
• Photograph/image
• Schools attended
• Grade level
• Parent/guardian names
• Participation in officially recognized activities and sports
• Weight and height of members of athletic teams
• Dates of attendance
• Enrollment status
• Diplomas and awards
• Date of birth

This information may be used in a variety of ways, such as a school yearbook, school or district newsletters or website, or released to news media.

Directory Information Withhold Process

To keep directory information private, parents/guardians must request that their child’s directory information be withheld before September 15 of each school year. If you are enrolling your student mid-year, the request must be made within five days of enrollment. These requests can be made through Skyward Family Access on the “Update Student and Family Information” tile or you can use the Directory Information Withhold Form that is available on the Lake Washington School District website. Changes can be made after September 14, however, some directory releases may have already occurred by the family’s request date.

Important: If you do not complete the directory information withhold processes (either online or on paper), your child’s directory information may be released.

Note: The district cannot control the release of certain directory information, such as photographs/images or names, when students participate in school events open to the general public such as athletic competitions, concerts or plays.

Military or Higher Education

Military or Higher Education Under federal law, directory information can also be released to military recruiters and to institutions of higher education for students who are in ninth grade to 12th grade. If you do not want this information released to military organizations, please unselect the military distribution checkbox in the “Update Student and Family Information” tile in Skyward Family Access or use the Directory Information Withhold Form.

If you do not want this information released to institutions of higher education, please unselect the higher education distribution checkbox in the “Update Student and Family Information” tile in Skyward Family Access or use the Directory Information Withhold Form.

You and your student will still be able to request sending their records to specific colleges or universities: the Directory Information Withhold request simply means the district will not include your student’s directory information in a request for information.

Please note that both military and higher education organizations may gain access to your student’s information from other sources. By checking the boxes on the electronic forms as mentioned above, simply means the District will not provide the student information to the Military or Higher Education institution.

Reviewing & Appealing Contents of Records

Under the law, a parent/guardian has the right to inspect and review their student’s educational records within 45 days of submitting a written request to the school’s principal. The principal will then notify the parent/guardian of the time and place where the records may be reviewed.

Concerns with Student Records

If concerns arise about the accuracy or appropriateness of a student’s educational records maintained by the school, the parent/guardian is encouraged to inform the principal. The principal will meet with the parent/guardian and attempt to resolve the matter. If the concern is not satisfactorily resolved within 30 school days, the parent/guardian will have the opportunity for a hearing before the Superintendent or designee. The request for the hearing must be made in writing. The hearing will be held within a reasonable time following the request. More information is available in the student records policies in the administrative policies section of the district website.

If a parent/guardian is still not satisfied following this process, the parent can insert into the challenged records a written explanation or comment regarding the content of such records.