The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), also known as the Buckley Amendment, is a federal law that governs the access to educational information and records and protects the privacy of students. FERPA applies to any educational institution that receives any federal funding, which includes all public schools and the vast majority of private institutions. Districts are required to notify families about FERPA annually, whether through start-of-year communications or by making the information accessible online.

FERPA affords parents the right to have access to their children’s education records, the right to seek to have them amended, and the right to have some control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information (PII) from the education records. When a student turns 18 years old, or enters a postsecondary institution at any age, the rights under FERPA transfer from the parents to the student (“eligible student”).

FERPA allows schools to disclose information from a student’s education record, without consent, to the following parties or under the following conditions:
-School officials with legitimate educational interest
-Other schools to which a student is transferring
-Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes
-Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student
-Organizations conducting certain studies for, or on behalf of, the school
-Accrediting organizations
-Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies
-State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific state law
-To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena

For more information, visit Oregon Department of Education’s Student Records and Privacy Page.
OR
The US Department of Education FERPA website visit