Education Department Guidance Highlights Parents’ School-Privacy Rights

The U.S. Department of Education issued a back-to-school letter on August 26, 2026, reminding federally funded schools and districts of their obligations under two existing student-privacy laws. The guidance puts renewed emphasis on parents’ ability to inspect education records and on written consent for certain sensitive surveys, evaluations and behavioral-health screeners.

The letter is not a new federal law or regulation. It is the Student Privacy Policy Office’s annual notification and interpretation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, known as FERPA, and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, or PPRA. The department says violations can put an educational institution’s federal funding at risk, although that is an enforcement consequence for an institution, not an automatic penalty in an individual parent-school dispute.

What FERPA lets parents inspect

FERPA generally gives parents the right to inspect and review education records directly related to their child and maintained by a school, district or party acting for the school or district. The department’s August letter stresses that schools should not limit that right to an official cumulative file.

The agency says FERPA does not distinguish between an “official record,” a cumulative file and other records. Information directly related to a student and maintained by an educational agency or institution may qualify as an education record even when it is stored elsewhere, subject to statutory exceptions.

That does not mean parents have unlimited access to every document a school possesses. FERPA excludes or treats differently certain records, including some law-enforcement-unit records, sole-possession notes, records about other students and certain academic tests or assessments. The exact answer can depend on how a record was created, maintained and used.

The department’s legal-basics guidance says schools generally must provide an opportunity to inspect and review records within 45 days of a request. Parents may also seek to amend records they believe are inaccurate and generally must consent before personally identifiable information from education records is disclosed, unless a legal exception applies.

FERPA rights transfer to the student when the student turns 18 or attends a postsecondary institution at any age. At that point, the student generally becomes the “eligible student” who exercises the federal rights.

When PPRA requires written consent

PPRA covers a different set of parental rights. Within the law’s statutory scope, written parental consent is required before a minor student is required to complete a survey, evaluation or analysis that concerns one or more of eight protected areas.

The areas are:

Political affiliations or beliefs of the student or the student’s parent;
Mental or psychological problems of the student or the student’s family;
Sex behavior or attitudes;
Illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating or demeaning behavior;
Critical appraisals of people with whom the student has close family relationships;
Legally recognized privileged relationships, such as those involving lawyers, physicians or ministers;
Religious practices, affiliations or beliefs; and
Income, except income required by law to determine eligibility for a program or financial assistance under that program.

The August letter says SPPO will regard a survey, evaluation or analysis as “required” when it is administered by an educator, counselor or other school official. It also says an opt-out process is not a substitute for written consent when the survey falls within the described PPRA requirement.

That interpretation does not mean every school survey automatically requires written consent. PPRA applies to covered programs and activities, and the statute contains different notice, inspection, opt-out and consent provisions. State law, district policy and the facts of a particular activity may also provide additional requirements.

Why behavioral-health screeners are included

The department gave specific attention to behavioral-health screening instruments. It said many screeners ask about emotional well-being, internalized distress, social interactions or other psychological or mental states.

Based on that content, the department says those instruments generally seek information in PPRA’s protected category covering mental or psychological problems. When a school uses a behavioral-health screener that probes students’ emotional or psychological states, the letter says written parental consent must be obtained before administration when the federal requirements apply.

The letter presents that position as an interpretation and enforcement emphasis under existing law. It does not create a nationwide requirement that schools use—or stop using—mental-health screening.

Parents can inspect some instructional materials

PPRA also requires districts to develop policies, in consultation with parents, addressing parental access to certain instructional materials used as part of a student’s curriculum. Parents may request to inspect those materials, but academic tests and academic assessments are excluded from that particular inspection right.

Schools must also provide annual notices explaining relevant FERPA and PPRA rights by means reasonably likely to inform parents. The department lists a school calendar, newsletter, student handbook or prominent website posting as possible methods. It says clearer annual notices will be an enforcement focus.

What families can do now

Parents seeking records should start with a written request identifying the student, describing the records sought and stating how they would like to inspect them. Keep the request, the school’s response and all follow-up correspondence.

Families can also ask the school or district for its annual FERPA and PPRA notices, the survey or screener at issue, and the policy governing records access and parental inspection. If a sensitive survey or screening is a concern, ask whether it addresses one of PPRA’s eight protected areas, whether the law applies to the activity and whether written consent was obtained or a different PPRA notice or opt-out provision governs.

If the school refuses access or a parent believes a survey was administered improperly, ask the school or district to explain its legal basis in writing. Before filing a PPRA complaint, the parent must contact the educational agency or institution to seek a resolution. For a FERPA complaint, prior contact is strongly encouraged but is not required.

A complaint to the department’s Student Privacy Policy Office must be written, identify specific factual allegations and generally be filed within 180 days of the alleged violation or of when the parent knew or reasonably should have known about it. FERPA complaints may be filed by a parent while the parent’s rights remain in effect. PPRA rights transfer to the student at age 18 or when the student becomes an emancipated minor under state law.

The federal complaint process does not replace state student-record or privacy laws. States and districts may provide additional protections, deadlines or procedures, and court rulings or local policies can affect how the federal guidance applies in a particular situation.

Sources

Look for updates to this story

Discover more from Interactive News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.