Rochelle’s Special Education Tips
Requests to Amend Student Records-Requests Your Mother Would Never Make
The helicopter parenting continues. Schools are encountering more instances of parents trying to change their children’s grades and other records. A recent decision of the Family Policy Compliance Office (known since January 2017 as the Office of the Chief Privacy Officer), which handles enforcement of FERPA, has held that FERPA cannot be used to change substantive decisions about grades or a teacher’s opinion about a student’s performance in class. In the case at issue, known as Letter to Anonymous, 20 FAB 15 (FPCO 2016), the parent complained that the teacher opined in a progress report that the student was not completing his homework. It was the teacher’s opinion that the student was not completing his homework. FERPA cannot be used to challenge grades, an opinion, or other substantive decisions made by a teacher about a student. A teacher’s assessment or professional opinion is not subject to a FERPA investigation.
