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5 N.E. U. L.J. 15 (2013)
FERPA: When Is Bullying Considered a Health and Safety Emergency

handle is hein.journals/norester5 and id is 27 raw text is: NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY LAWJOURNAL

FERPA: When Is Bullying Considered a Health and
Safety Emergency?
Tracey L. Schneider, Esq.
I. Introduction
The Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) was
originally enacted more than twenty-five years ago.' Unfortunately,
over the years, some of FERPA's provisions have not stayed current
with the health and safety emergencies that educational institutions
face today. While educational institutions continually strive to be
more proactive in avoiding such devastating events, they often find
themselves inhibited by the information disclosure provisions of
FERPA. Although FERPA contains a health or safety emergency
exception to the consent to disclosure requirements,2 the exception
language does not provide a clear definition of health and safety
emergency. Educational institutions are presented with the predic-
ament of releasing information that they believe will help avoid an
emergency and protect students, and in doing so, face of a possible
FERPA violation.
The 2009 FERPA regulatory amendments and subsequent guid-
ance issued by the United States Department of Education (USDOE)
have provided some guidance and, perhaps more important, some
flexibility.3 In fact, the guidance specifically states that:
J.D., University of Richmond, 2004; B.S.B.A., University of Richmond, 2000.
The author is the Board Attorney/In-House Counsel for the Stafford Township
Board of Education. This article was previously presented at the Education
Law Association Annual Conference in Chicago, Illinois in Novembe, 2011
under the title: FERPA: THE UNIQUE ISSUES OF TODAY.
1    20 U.S.C. 1232g (2012) (originally enacted as The Family Educational Rights
and Privacy Act of 1974, Pub. L. No. 93-568, and commonly referred to as the
Buckley Amendment).
2    20 U.S.C. 1232g(b) (1) (I); 34 C.FR. 5§ 99.31(a) (1), 9936 (2013).
3    U.S. DEP'T OF EDUC. FAMILY POLICY COMPLIANCE OFFICE, FAMILY EDUC.
RIGHTS AND PRIVACY ACT (FERPA) AND THE DISCLOSURE OF STUDENT
INFO. RELATED TO EMERGENCIES AND DISASTERS (2010), available at
http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/pdf/ferpa-disaster-guidance.pdf
[hereinafter FPCO 2010 GUIDANCE]; U.S. DEP'T OF EDUC. FAMILY POLICY

VOL. 5 No. I

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