Bellringer’s Carol Richtsmeier, a high school newspaper advisor in Texas, is less than pleased with the Department of Education’s expansion of the Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA). In her eyes, the policy was already being misused to stifle student publications, the expansions could make it worse.
My buddies at the Student Press Law Center tell me that the DOE … apparently has gone beyond bat-crack crazy and enacted some additional changes to FERPA that are slated to take effect Jan. 8.
These new rules broaden what the DOE considers to be confidential education records to include basic stuff like statistical data about school safety, discipline and academic performance if school officials think that the person requesting the information or even kiddos on campus can figure out who the information might be about.
