Legal and Ethical Guide by Haley McGregor https://padlet.com/hmcfarland4/lleuvxt24w7do7ln en-us 2023-03-06 15:09:57 UTC 2025-11-17 07:34:22 UTC hello@padlet.com Confidentiality: Within Brick and Mortar Walls hmcfarland4 https://padlet.com/hmcfarland4/lleuvxt24w7do7ln/wish/2505431338 Some of the legal and ethical issues influencing education in the classroom is the confidentiality laws between students and adults; teachers to adults. When speaking to students, students find it very easy to trust us with their personal information and sometimes they will confide in us so much that we are told information that we have to report. With this being an issue, kids will not feel comfortable with sharing their information with us anymore and they may feel like they have lost an trusted adult to confide in. 
When it comes to teachers to adults, we want to be able to have transparency with the adult but also still maintain that relationship with our student. 
Another issue is the sharing of data of students to others who do not have a need to know basis. Confidential information can include anything including: name of the student, student parents, address, any personal identifier, a list of personal characteristics that would make it possible to identify that student, and any other information that would point out that student. 

American Psychological Association. (2019, October 30). Protecting your privacy: Understanding confidentiality. https://www.apa.org/topics/psychotherapy/confidentiality
]]> 2023-03-06 16:19:06 UTC https://padlet.com/hmcfarland4/lleuvxt24w7do7ln/wish/2505431338 Governing Agency hmcfarland4 https://padlet.com/hmcfarland4/lleuvxt24w7do7ln/wish/2505472409
  • Texas Education Agency (TEA)
  • Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

    • TEA and FERPA are the governing rules for when it comes to confidentiality within schools. TEA is the main decision maker for the state of Texas. FERPA is the governing act used in place to provide guardians/parents with certain rights to their child's educational records. 


    Ming, Scheid. The Educator's Role: Privacy, Confidentiality, and Security in the classroom. November, 19, 2019. https://studentprivacycompass.org/scheid1/
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  • Fourteenth Amendment
  • Texas Constitutional Law-Confidentiality

    • The Fourteenth Amendment, citizens have the right to privacy. This helps
    confidentiality in school counselors because it blocks the government from imposing on privacy rights for citizens. (U.S. Const. Amend. XIV). 
    Texas Code 552.001(a), (b) controls confidentiality of student records. School Counselors must maintain confidentiality of the student through the counseling process.

    (Texas Government Code)



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  • Owasso Public Schools v. Falvo: an Oklahoma mother sued a school district after it allowed her son’s grade to be called out in class. 
  • This court case was a wake up call to all educators around the country that you are not allowed to expose personal information regarding grades out to students and they are not allowed to release any information pertaining to a student associated with their name. 
  • The impact that this court case had on school systems was severe. It definitely opened a lot of eyes to what people were used to being able to do vs. what they no longer can do. It was vital that confidentiality trainings were conducted across the nation to revisit the law. 

    • Owasso Independent School District No. I-011 v. Falvo. (n.d.). Oyez. Retrieved March 6, 2023, from https://www.oyez.org/cases/2001/00-1073
    ]]>     2023-03-06 16:55:12 UTC https://padlet.com/hmcfarland4/lleuvxt24w7do7ln/wish/2505487102     hmcfarland4 https://padlet.com/hmcfarland4/lleuvxt24w7do7ln/wish/2505498427 U.S. Federal Regulation: Confidentiality: Texas Education Code:
    According to the Texas Education Code, students’ personal information is to be kept private, regardless of whatever format it is in. This information is anything provided by the parent through the internet or any material produced by the school/district employee for use in a school. Also to include: educational record, email, full name, home address, telephone number, and discipline referrals. (Tex. Educ. Code § 32.151 et seq.).

    Texas Education Code 
    ]]>     2023-03-06 17:02:19 UTC https://padlet.com/hmcfarland4/lleuvxt24w7do7ln/wish/2505498427     hmcfarland4 https://padlet.com/hmcfarland4/lleuvxt24w7do7ln/wish/2505511382 Killeen ISD has a policy that states; to the greatest extent possible, the District shall respect the privacy of the complainant, persons against whom report is filed, and witnesses. Limited disclosures may be necessary in order to conduct a thorough investigation (2022, pg. 3). 

    • All reports and requests made to the district will be handled professionally and students information will be handled with confidentiality. 

    https://www.killeenisd.org/cms/lib/TX02205734/Centricity/Domain/7180/Student_Code_of_Conduct_English.pdf
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  • School districts need to make sure that within their trainings for staff and faculty, that people are made aware of what confidentiality is and how not to break it. Confidentiality can be broken from everyone, including substitute teachers, custodial staff, etc. 
  • Students confide in counselors to share personal information and it is important that confidentiality is maintained and not compromised. 
  • If confidentiality were to break, the counselor could be facing a lawsuit and depending on the severity of the suit, could mean fines or jail time. 

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  • As counselors, we are held to the ethical standards of the American School Counselors Association (ASCA). ASCA provides ethical standards for school counselors to follow. School counselors are responsible to follow the specific outlined ethics. We are expected to maintain to “keep information confidential unless legal requirements demand confidential information to be revealed or a breach is required to prevent serious and foreseeable harm to the student or others” (ASCA, 2016). 

    • ASCA 

    ]]>     2023-03-06 17:13:40 UTC https://padlet.com/hmcfarland4/lleuvxt24w7do7ln/wish/2505515841     hmcfarland4 https://padlet.com/hmcfarland4/lleuvxt24w7do7ln/wish/2505519821 Steps to ethical decision-making strategies that I am going to implement in my practice is:
    • Identify the Ethical Issues.
    • Get the Facts.
    • Evaluate Alternative Actions.
    • Choose an Option for Action and Test It.
    • Review that Option with a Peer
    • Implement Your Decision and Reflect on the Outcome.

    For example, I need to evaluate the issue that has been addressed to me. Gather all relevant information. Explore all of the possible solutions, and choose the best option and follow it through.

    https://www.depts.ttu.edu/murdoughcenter/products/resources/steps-to-personal-ethical-decision-making.php



    ]]>     2023-03-06 17:16:23 UTC https://padlet.com/hmcfarland4/lleuvxt24w7do7ln/wish/2505519821     hmcfarland4 https://padlet.com/hmcfarland4/lleuvxt24w7do7ln/wish/2505630565   When reviewing personal connections, we have to take a look at all different angles when it comes to students. For example, I had a student come up to me and tell me that her father and mother were going through a divorce and she felt sad. At first, I was just a listening ear and I was able to be her safe place for a while. The conversations started escalating and there started to be signs of abuse from the mother. With the new information I had to have a conversation with her that what I had been told had to be reported. She was scared and upset, but knew that it was for the best. After the report was made, she came to me and let me know that her siblings and her were removed from her moms home and safely were with her father. She expressed that it was hard for her but she understood and she is much happier now. When making those hard decisions, it puts a lot of things into perspective.
    It relates to my field of study because it specifically allows me to examine all of the different avenues used to evaluate something and to keep my eyes open. Just like a counselor has to do, you have to examine things from all different angles. 


    ]]>     2023-03-06 18:36:11 UTC https://padlet.com/hmcfarland4/lleuvxt24w7do7ln/wish/2505630565     hmcfarland4 https://padlet.com/hmcfarland4/lleuvxt24w7do7ln/wish/2505634602 American School Counselor Association (2016). ASCA ethical standards for school counselors. Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/Ethics/EthicalStandards2016.pdf

    Ming, Scheid. The Educator's Role: Privacy, Confidentiality, and Security in the classroom. November, 19, 2019. https://studentprivacycompass.org/scheid1/

    Owasso Independent School District No. I-011 v. Falvo. (n.d.). Oyez. Retrieved March 6, 2023, from https://www.oyez.org/cases/2001/00-1073

    School Counselors and Counseling Programs, 2 Tex. Edu. Code § 33.002-33.007

    Texas Education Agency. (2018). The Texas model for comprehensive school counseling programs (5th ed.). Texas Counseling Association. https://tea.texas.gov/sites/default/files/Pub_2018_Texas-Model-5th-Edition.pdf.
     
    Tex. Edu. Code § 32.151 et seq. https://texas.public.law/statutes/tex._educ._code_section_32.151#:~:text=“School%20purpose”%20means%20a%20purpose,and%20collaboration%20between%20students%2C%20school  

    Tex. Gov’t. Code 552.001(a),(b) https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/GV/htm/GV.552.htm 


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