Today I was reading about Audrie Pott in the Dispatch and the article indicates one of the people who assaulted her goes to Christopher High. Last month I had to show proof of residence for my child who will be starting high school in the fall. I found this unnecessary. I have lived in the same location for 20-plus years. My question is, does the person who assaulted Audrie Pott still live in Saratoga and was allowed to transfer to CHS or does he now live in Gilroy in the CHS district. None of the newspaper stories indicate he actually lives in Gilroy.
Red Phone:
Good caller, questions are being asked about this matter. Red Phone contacted Gilroy Unified School District (GUSD) Superintendent, Dr. Deborah Flores, in an attempt to find some answers.
Dr. Flores responded with this statement, “The student’s family has notified the District that they do not consent to the release of directory information. Therefore, the District cannot share the information that you have requested as that would be a violation of FERPA and Board’s policies and administrative regulations.”
FERPA is an acronym for the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a Federal law passed in 1974 to protect the privacy of student education records. From the US Department of Education’s website, we find that schools that receive Federal funding can release information such as the student’s name, address, telephone number and other personal information without student’s consent or parents’ consent. However, before that happens, the schools are required to tell parents and students about the information and give them time to request that the information not be released.
The GUSD 2014-2015 Information Handbook also states that, “No directory information shall be released regarding any pupil if a parent has notified the school district that the information shall not be released.”
The California Education Code allows the inter-district transfer of students if both districts agree. The education code, however, forbids any transfer for reasons of academic or athletic abilities.
So, good caller, although you did not get your answers, at least one knows more now than before about the laws protecting student records.
