Annual Notification of Students' Rights Under The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords parents and students who are 18 years of age or older ("eligible students") certain rights with respect to the student's education records.  These rights are: 

1. The right to inspect and review the student's education records within 45 days after the day the Registrar’s Office at Bristol Community College receives a request for access. Parents or eligible students who wish to inspect their child’s or their education records should submit to the Registrar’s Office at RegistrarsOffice@BristolCC.edu a written request that identifies the records they wish to inspect. The school official will make arrangements for access and notify the parent or eligible student of the time and place where the records may be inspected.
   
   
2. The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records that the parent or eligible student believes are inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student’s privacy rights under FERPA.
   Parents or eligible students who wish to ask Bristol to amend their child’s or their education record should write the Registrar’s Office at Bristol at RegistrarsOffice@BristolCC.edu, clearly identify the part of the record they want changed, and specify why it should be changed. If the school decides not to amend the record as requested by the parent or eligible student, the school will notify the parent or eligible student of the decision and of their right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the parent or eligible student when notified of the right to a hearing.
   
   
3. The right to provide written consent before the school discloses personally identifiable information (PII) from the student's education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.
   One exception, which permits disclosure without consent, is disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. The criteria for determining who constitutes a school official and what constitutes a legitimate educational interest must be set forth in the school’s annual notification for FERPA rights. A school official typically includes a person employed by the school or school district as an administrator, supervisor, instructor, or support staff member (including health or medical staff and law enforcement unit personnel) or a person serving on the school board. A school official also may include a volunteer, contractor, or consultant who, while not employed by the school, performs an institutional service or function for which the school would otherwise use its own employees and who is under the direct control of the school with respect to the use and maintenance of PII from education records, such as an attorney, auditor, medical consultant, or therapist; a parent or student volunteering to serve on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee; or a parent, student, or other volunteer assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks.  A school official typically has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility.

School officials with legitimate educational interest:

• A school official at Bristol Community College is defined as a person employed by the college as an administrator, supervisor, instructor, or support staff member (including health or medical staff and law enforcement unit personnel) or a person serving on the Board of Trustees. A school official also may include a volunteer, contractor, or consultant who, while not employed by the school, performs an institutional service.
• A legitimate educational interest is defined as follows:
  • The information requested is necessary for that official to perform appropriate tasks that are specified in his or her position description or by a contract agreement.
  • The information is to be used within the context of official agency or school business and not for purposes extraneous to the official’s areas of responsibility or to the agency or school.
  • The information is relevant to the accomplishment of some task or to a determination about the student.
  • The information is to be used consistently with the purposes for which the data are maintained.
    
    

Upon request, Bristol Community College will disclose education records without consent to officials of another school or school district in which a student seeks or intends to enroll, or is already enrolled if the disclosure is for purposes of the student’s enrollment or transfer.

Directory Information at Bristol Community College includes:

• Name
• Address
• Class
• Year and registration type
• Degrees received
• Dates of attendance
• Any honors and awards received
• Past and present participation in officially recognized sports and activities
  
  

While Bristol Community College reserves the right to release Directory Information. Under FERPA and the Directory Information disclosure, Bristol will only release information to outside entities as it relates to the following:

• Public Officials who wish to congratulate graduates
• Newspaper announcements
• Athletic announcements
• Per the Solomon Amendment (10 U.S.C. § 983), a federal law that allows military recruiters to access some address, biographical and academic program information on students age 17 and older.
  • The Department of Education has determined the Solomon Amendment supersedes most elements of FERPA. The District is therefore obligated to release data included in the list of “student recruiting information,” which may or may not match the Districts FERPA directory definition list. However, if the student has submitted a Request to Prevent or Allow Disclosure of Directory Information form through the Admissions, Records and Enrollment Development Office to restrict the release of his/her Directory Information, then no information from the student’s education record will be released as specified in the Solomon Amendment.
    
    

FERPA permits the disclosure of PII from students’ education records, without consent of the parent or eligible student, if the disclosure meets certain conditions found in § 99.31 of the FERPA regulations. Except for disclosures to school officials, disclosures related to some judicial orders or lawfully issued subpoenas, disclosures of directory information, and disclosures to the parent or eligible student, § 99.32 of the FERPA regulations requires the school to record the disclosure. Parents and eligible students have a right to inspect and review the record of disclosures. A school may disclose PII from the education records of a student without obtaining prior written consent of the parents or the eligible student –

• To other school officials, including teachers, within the educational agency or institution whom the school has determined to have legitimate educational interests. This includes contractors, consultants, volunteers, or other parties to whom the school has outsourced institutional services or functions, provided that the conditions listed in § 99.31(a)(1)(i)(B)(1) - (a)(1)(i)(B)(3) are met. (§ 99.31(a)(1))
• To officials of another school, school system, or institution of postsecondary education where the student seeks or intends to enroll, or where the student is already enrolled if the disclosure is for purposes related to the student’s enrollment or transfer, subject to the requirements of § 99.34. (§ 99.31(a)(2))
• To authorized representatives of the U. S. Comptroller General, the U. S. Attorney General, the U.S. Secretary of Education, or State and local educational authorities, such as the State educational agency (SEA) in the parent or eligible student’s State. Disclosures under this provision may be made, subject to the requirements of § 99.35, in connection with an audit or evaluation of Federal- or State-supported education programs, or for the enforcement of or compliance with Federal legal requirements that relate to those programs. These entities may make further disclosures of PII to outside entities that are designated by them as their authorized representatives to conduct any audit, evaluation, or enforcement or compliance activity on their behalf, if applicable requirements are met. (§§ 99.31(a)(3) and 99.35)
• In connection with financial aid for which the student has applied or which the student has received, if the information is necessary for such purposes as to determine eligibility for the aid, determine the amount of the aid, determine the conditions of the aid, or enforce the terms and conditions of the aid. (§ 99.31(a)(4))
• To State and local officials or authorities to whom information is specifically allowed to be reported or disclosed by a State statute that concerns the juvenile justice system and the system’s ability to effectively serve, prior to adjudication, the student whose records were released, subject to § 99.38. (§ 99.31(a)(5))
• To organizations conducting studies for, or on behalf of, the school, in order to: (a) develop, validate, or administer predictive tests; (b) administer student aid programs; or (c) improve instruction, if applicable requirements are met. (§ 99.31(a)(6))
• To accrediting organizations to carry out their accrediting functions. (§ 99.31(a)(7))
  
  

4. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the [School] to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the Office that administers FERPA are:

Student Privacy Policy Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202