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1.FERPA is an important entity at this time. The law is adamant about what one's rights are, but it also wants to uphold the laws that the Constitution has so proudly and willingly enforced. Citizens have the right to privacy and to feel safe whether it be online or it be in person. As school counselors, it is our jobs to encourage, promote and ensure that we uphold this ideology.

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1.FERPA is an important entity at this time. The law is adamant about what one's rights are, but it also wants to uphold the laws that the Constitution has so proudly and willingly enforced. Citizens have the right to privacy and to feel safe whether it be online or it be in person. As school counselors, it is our jobs to encourage, promote and ensure that we uphold this ideology.

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The first legal and ethical  issue that faces school counselors is FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Acts). This law is needed in the public school system because as school officials it is important to know what can be reported and what can’t. It’s all about students rights to privacy while at the same time ensuring students  are getting the help they need. FERPA  helps to govern how student ‘s information is handled. Even though FERPA requires parental consent when giving out student information, this law still empowers school officials to handout information to certain entities when it think its needed(ASCA, 2008). According to ASCA(2008) (American School Counselor Association, 2008) “the school counseling profession is built on trust, and confidentiality is an ethical imperative the profession guards with great care”.  As public schools continue to become better with ensuring students’ rights to privacy, they must continue balancing that right with students getting the help they need to thrive in their communities. FERPA is the balancing key to ensure that idea.

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The U.S Department of Education is the agency that oversees the FERPA law. This office protects and governs records here in Texas.

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Legal Requirements in general and in Cybersecurity

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Legal Requirements in general and in Cybersecurity

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FERPA protects students' data by having strict regulations:
* Strict penalties are afforded to educational institutions that do not have safeguards to guard data (Walsh et.al, 2018)
Violations: Walsh (2018) explains that

Emailing protected student information to everyone in the class.

Including social security numbers on shared documents.

Posting grades and identifying information in public.

Publicly disclosing a student athlete's academic status.

Cybersecurity :
*Test and remediate
*Continuously test for weaknesses in network
*Audit trails and monitor(Walsh et.al, 2018)

Penalties:
*The Loss of funds to the organization
*Eligibility for funding from Department of Education
*Cease and Desist (Walsh et.al, 2018)

Walsh, J., Maniotis, L., & Kemerer, F. (2018). The Educator’s Guide to Texas School Law: Ninth Edition. University of Texas Press.

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4. One Statute that aligns with FERPA-Student Privacy

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4. One Statute that aligns with FERPA-Student Privacy

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Abbott (2022) explains that this act is the Disclosure means to permit access to or the release, transfer, of student record. One law that represents what FERPA was made for is the student Privacy act. This act is the Disclosure means to permit access to or the release, transfer, of records.

Abbott, H. (2022). How Data Stewards Make Decisions to Protect or Disclose Student Information: Toward Consistent Criteria. College & University, 97(1), 2–9.

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Statute and Federal Law that aligns with FERPA

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Statute and Federal Law that aligns with FERPA

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FERPA is a state and federal law that protect the rights to privacy of education records. While students are under the age of 18 years of age, parents have the rights to student records. However, as soon as the student turns 18 the rights are transferred over to the student (Abbott, 2022)

Abbott, H. (2022). How Data Stewards Make Decisions to Protect or Disclose Student Information: Toward Consistent Criteria. College & University, 97(1), 2–9.

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Owasso Independent School District v. Falco:
This case involved Krista J. Falvo kids who went to the Owasso ISD. She had asked the teachers to stop doing peer grading in their classes. The teachers told her no. So, the mother slapped a lawsuit against the school district on the grounds that it violated FERPA. The district argued that papers that were graded were not education records, therefore FERPA could not be used on that ground alone. The federal agreed that they were school records and so the district appealed to the Supreme Court (Dinger, 2001).
The courts decided that papers by students are student related and are maintained by the school, therefore it is considered a student record. It falls under the FERPA law.

Dinger, D. R. (2001). Johnny saw my test score, so I’m suing my teacher: Falvo v. Owasso Independent School District, peer grading, and a student’s right to privacy under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act. Journal of Law & Education, 575.

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The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a *affords parents the right to have access to their children’s education records
*the right to seek to have the records amended
*the right to have some control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information from the education records.
*When a student turns 18 years old, or enters a postsecondary institution at any age, the rights under FERPA transfer from the parents to the student (“eligible student”). The FERPA statute is found at 20 U.S.C. § 1232g and the FERPA regulations are found at 34 CFR Part 99. (U.S. Department of Education)

U.S Department of Education. Protecting Student Privacy.
What is FERPA? | Protecting Student Privacy (ed.gov)

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Elliott, Fatima, and Wasan (2014) explain that "Because state or local privacy protection laws or policies may supplement or refine FERPA, many state and local education agencies establish written policies to ensure the law will be applied uniformly. These FERPA laws and policies can also clash with the state and local laws."

Elliott, T. L., Fatemi, D., & Wasan, S. (2014). Student Privacy Rights--History, Owasso, and FERPA. Journal of Higher Education Theory & Practice, 14(4), 34–47.

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8. Three risk management strategies related to the topic and why it is important

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8. Three risk management strategies related to the topic and why it is important

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Cole (2021) points out that the Student Privacy Policy Office can review and investigate violations since FERPA does not have a private right of action in which they can sue an education institution. This is important because if an education institution has consistently "broken" the FERPA law, there will be no reason for them to review their policies and become better.

Cole, J. (2021) The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA): Legal Issues.

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Confidentiality:
ASCA (2022) says Counselors are required to adhere to confidentiality only if the student is not in the way of immediate harm.

1. A2 "Recognize their primary ethical obligation for confidentiality is to the students but balance that obligation with an understanding of parents’/guardians’ legal and inherent rights to be the guiding voice in their children’s lives. School counselors understand the need to balance students’ ethical rights to make choices, their capacity to give consent or assent, and parental or familial legal rights and responsibilities to make decisions on their child’s behalf." ASCA (2022)

ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors (2022). ASCA Student Standards; Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success. Alexandria, VA: Author.

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My personal connection to the FERPA law is a students' IEP and paperwork from another school to ensure the students' success. This year is a good of example. A couple of weeks ago, I had a student who was new, and we found out that he was struggling in his academics. His parents would not bring previous paperwork (from the others school) that could have ensured the student's IEP was followed as well getting tested for special education. We were able to secure the much-needed paperwork so that we can begin start through process at a quicker rate. Thanks to FERPA, the paperwork from the child's former school was received.

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11.  Bulleted list of Recommendations / Best Practices for Compliance

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11.  Bulleted list of Recommendations / Best Practices for Compliance

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The best way to ensure compliance is to come up with a federal law amended to FERPA, that requires all of the states and the local level governments to follow the same statutes.  If these statutes are violated:
* Funds from different areas in that institution will be docked * or  eliminated
*Suspended from events
*Suspended from participating in government function
* Suspended for from development in-services
* Inability to have meetings

Compliance of FERPA:
*Students are reminded of their rights under FERPA
*Training amongst staff
*Developing protocols that ensure rules and procedures are followed
* Reporting Protocol for breaking of laws within FERPA