The Act also amended the exception to FERPA's general consent rule that allows schools to disclose personally identifiable information from students' education records without consent if the disclosure is necessary to comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena.
The studies exception to FERPA allows for disclosure of PII without consent to “organizations conducting studies for, or on behalf of, educational agencies or institutions.” The “for, or on behalf of” language indicates that the educational agency or institution to which the PII relates wants and agrees to the study ...
Final answer: School officials can release identifiable information without parental consent when required by law, in emergencies or to school officials with legitimate interests.
FERPA prohibits the release of personally identifiable information without parental consent.
Directory information. Schools may disclose, without consent, directory information such as a student's name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and awards, and dates of attendance.
Records may be released without the student's consent: (1) to school officials with a legitimate educational interest; (2) to other schools to which a student seeks or intends to enroll; (3) to education officials for audit and evaluation purposes; (4) to accrediting organizations; (5) to parties in connection with ...
Furthermore, schools may disclose, without consent, directory information, which FERPA defines as a student's name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and awards, and dates of attendance.
There are several exceptions in FERPA that allow schools to share information without consent, including with parents. The most common exception related to this issue allows schools to share records with a parent if the student is a dependent of the parent for tax purposes under IRS tax rules.
In the absence of the written consent, FERPA permits an educational agency or institution to disclose PII from an education record of a student if the disclosure meets one or more of the conditions outlined in 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(b) and (h) – (j) and 34 CFR § 99.31.