Prompted by the shootings at Virginia Tech last year, the U.S. Department of Education has proposed clarifications for a law pertaining to the release of private student information, Education Department spokesperson Jim Bradshaw said.
"It's a way to make crystal clear that schools can release certain education records on a student who might be a threat to him or herself or others," Bradshaw said.
Published Monday in the Federal Register, the proposed amendment explicitly addresses when schools can release information in accordance with the 1974 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, Bradshaw said. Under a health and safety exception of the law that is currently in place, Bradshaw said, institutions can release information to parents and to health and law enforcement officials if it can be shown that the student is a threat to himself or others.
Under FERPA, "schools have always been able to release information [to parents] if the child is listed as dependent on tax reforms," Bradshaw said, noting, however, there was still some "confusion over what schools could and could not release."
The department is currently receiving feedback from the public about the proposed regulations, Bradshaw said, and will publish the final version of them, which will have the force of law, in the fall.
Russell Federman, University director of counseling and psychological services, declined to comment on the proposed changes.
--compiled by Laura Hoffman
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