Family Educational Rights And Privacy Act (FERPA)

[Jeff]

   Are private schools such as a Catholic school still bound by the Family Educational Rights And Privacy Act (FERPA)? I still have not recieved information I requested, report cards etc. There are no legally binding document relating to such matters as divorce, separation, or custody that specifically revokes these rights.

   Thank you for any info...

[Brent]

>   Are private schools such as a Catholic school still bound
>by the Family Educational Rights And Privacy Act (FERPA)?

In a word, no.

Unless they receive Federal money, they don't have to abide by the provisions in FERPA.

With private schools, if you aren't paying the tuition, you'll have virtually no leverage to get anything from them.

[FatherTime]

Try speaking with the diocese.  Call them and see if you can't get some cooperation from the school.  

FatherTime.

[Neversaynever]

>
>Unless they receive Federal money, they don't have to abide by
>the provisions in FERPA.


then they must provide the information?  

PBFH had the child under a 'program' where she only had to pay $3.00 a week for preschool/childcare.  Now, I'm not sure but I bet that the 'program' is subsidized by the Gov. or my State.  They have refused my SO's request for any information (even with the FERPA letter), so I'm curious about this one.

[Brent]

>>Unless they receive Federal money, they don't have to abide
>>by the provisions in FERPA.
>
>then they must provide the information?  

It's my understanding that they risk losing Federal funding if they refuse to comply with the provisions in FERPA. It may not apply this exact way for a private school, but it's worth looking into.

[daddyrabbit38]

i believe if you pull up the FERPA info on the web you can locate a phone number to call about it, ask them if the school/program is required to comply at least your getting a direct answer, and if the answer is yes, you can inform them right then that program is refusijng to cooperate.

[Brent]

>i believe if you pull up the FERPA info on the web you can
>locate a phone number to call about it,

You can't "call FERPA". FERPA is an act, a legal guideline, not a group. The group is the FPCO, or Family Policy Compliance Office, which is under the U.S. Department of Education. Their number is listed on the FERPA pages here.

[TGB]

Check the statutes for your state. They often give you better access than FERPA does and would apply to ANY school in the state, private or public.

See http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/access.htm and the related articles linked at the top.