萝莉网

LEGAL BRIEF

In an all-too-rare quiet moment, a superintendent sits at her desk catching up with several days鈥� worth of mail 鈥� real mail, the kind with envelopes and paper. She is stopped in her tracks by the document before her labelled subpoena duces tecum (Latin for 鈥渦nder penalty, bring with you鈥�). It鈥檚 signed by a local attorney and asks for a number of school records related to a student.

Several conflicting thoughts arrive at once, not the least of which is that one option is to make an expensive phone call to involve the school board attorney.

While receiving a subpoena may represent uncharted waters for many superintendents, it doesn鈥檛 have to be a source of anxiety. The process and rules for responding are addressed directly in applicable law.

School officials know well that most student records in possession of the school district are subject to the provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, commonly referred to as FERPA. The law generally prohibits disclosure of student records to third parties without permission of the student鈥檚 parent or guardian. But simply denying a request for disclosure of student records 鈥� particularly one contained in a subpoena 鈥� without some further analysis is generally unwise.