AB 478

Under current law, pupil records maintained by a public school are confidential

and may be disclosed only under certain exceptions to that requirement, including

an exception that requires a school board to disclose pupil records to the Department

of Children and Families (DCF), the Department of Corrections, a county

department of human services or social services (county department), or a licensed

child welfare agency in compliance with an order of the court assigned to exercise

jurisdiction under the Children's Code and the Juvenile Justice Code (juvenile

court).

Recently, the federal Uninterrupted Scholars Act amended the federal Family

Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (commonly referred to as "FERPA") to

permit educational records to be disclosed to a caseworker or other representative

of an agency or tribal organization who has the right to access a student's case plan,

when the agency or tribal organization is legally responsible for the care and

protection of the student, provided that: 1) the educational records will not be

disclosed by the agency or tribal organization, except to an individual or entity

engaged in addressing the student's needs and authorized by the agency or tribal

organization to receive that disclosure; and 2) the disclosure is consistent with state

or tribal laws applicable to protecting the confidentiality of a student's records.

This bill permits a school board, on request, to disclose pupil records that are

pertinent to addressing a pupil's educational needs to a caseworker or other

representative of DCF, a county department, or a tribal organization that is legally

responsible for the care and protection of the pupil, if the caseworker or other

representative is authorized by DCF, that county department, or that tribal

organization to access the pupil's case plan. The bill also permits a school board to

enter into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a county department or

tribal organization, and the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to enter into a

MOU with DCF, that permits that disclosure of pupil records. DCF, a county

department, or a tribal organization that receives pupil records under the bill may

not further disclose those pupil records or any personally identifiable information

contained in those pupil records except as follows:

1. To a person who is engaged in addressing the pupil's educational needs, who

is authorized by DCF, that county department, or that tribal organization to receive

that disclosure, and to whom that disclosure is authorized under state or tribal law.

2. Upon request, to any court of this state or of the United States that needs

to review those records or that information for the purpose of addressing the

educational needs of a pupil who is the subject of a proceeding in that court.

3. In response to an order of a juvenile court conducting temporary physical

custody proceedings, mental health commitment or protective placement

proceedings, proceedings related to waiver of juvenile court jurisdiction over a

juvenile alleged to have violated a criminal law, proceedings related to a child,