By Audience: Early Childhood Educators

The resources on this page are intended for staff and educators of Early Childhood programs or institutions. Resources found here address the unique challenge of applying FERPA to the early childhood setting.

Best Practices

May Schools Disclose Information about Cases of COVID-19?

Schools across the nation are working hard to keep students, teachers, and staff safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, many schools are wondering whether the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) allows them to disclose information about cases of COVID-19 to the community. The Student Privacy Policy Office provided answers to these questions in our March 2020 guidance. Subsequent to issuing the guidance, we have seen reports that states, cities, school districts, and schools are continuing to face questions about disclosing COVID-19 cases.

Guidance

Improving the Effectiveness and Efficiency of FERPA Enforcement

The Department is committed to protecting student privacy. To provide more timely and effective assistance to parents and students and to address a recommendation made by the Department’s Office of the Inspector General to “implement a risk-based approach to processing and resolving FERPA complaints,” the Department is modifying its investigatory practices to more efficiently address and resolve complaints and violations under FERPA.

Guidance

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act: Guidance for School Officials on Student Health Records

This guidance document provides school officials with general information about the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), with a particular focus on student health records maintained by educational agencies and institutions and by third parties acting on their behalf.

Best Practices

LEA Website Privacy Transparency Review Final Report

The Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) at the U.S. Department of Education (Department) performed a four-year review of a nationally representative sample of the websites of 1,504 local education agencies (LEAs) to identify whether and how these websites include information about student privacy.