Findings Letters

The resources included in this topic are for historical purposes.  They are redacted letters concerning SPPO investigations from prior years.  They are included in .zip archives that correspond to the year the letter was released.  The information in these letters do not include policy determinations.  Such letters will be found under the topic of "Letters of Importance."

Letters

Letter to an Attorney in Massachusetts Regarding the Applicability of FERPA to Students Sharing College Mail Boxes - March 1999

Letter to an attorney representing a college in Massachusetts explaining that, while FERPA would not prohibit a school from sending information to a student at a post office box that the student shares with another student, the school is responsible for taking precautions to prevent the improper disclosure of personally identifiable information from students' education records.

Guidance
Letters

Letter to Attorney in New York Regarding Test Protocols and FERPA-August 1998

Letter explaining that completed tests instruments or question booklets that do not identify a particular student may not be an "education record" to which parents have the right to inspect and review but the school must respond to a reasonable request for explanation or interpretation of the student's answer sheet, which could include reviewing the question booklet with the parent.