3. Apoyo social y consumo de drogas
3.1. Concepto de apoyo social
Section 552.026 incorporates into the Texas Public Information Act the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, also known as “FERPA” or the “Buckley Amendment.”618 619
FERPA governs the availability of student records held by educational institutions or agencies that receive federal funds under programs administered by the federal government. It prohibits, in most circumstances, the release of personally identifiable information contained in a student’s education records without a parent’s written consent. It also gives parents a right to inspect the education620
20 U.S.C. § 1232g(d).
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20 U.S.C. § 1232g(a)(4)(A).
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Open Records Decision Nos. 332 (1982), 206 (1978).
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34 C.F.R. § 99.3.
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See 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(a)(5)(B).
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post-secondary education, the rights established by FERPA attach to the student rather than to the student’s parents. “Education records” for purposes of FERPA are records that contain622
information directly related to a student and that are maintained by an educational institution or agency.623
Information must be withheld from required public disclosure under FERPA only to the extent “reasonable and necessary to avoid personally identifying a particular student.” Personally624
identifying information is defined as including, but not limited to, the following information: (a) The student’s name;
(b) The name of the student’s parent or other family members; (c) The address of the student or student’s family;
(d) A personal identifier, such as the student’s social security number, student number, or biometric record;
(e) Other indirect identifiers, such as the student’s date of birth, place of birth, and mother’s maiden name;
(f) Other information that, alone or in combination, is linked or linkable to a specific student that would allow a reasonable person in the school community, who does not have personal knowledge of the relevant circumstances to identify the student with reasonable certainty; or
(g) Information requested by a person who the educational agency or institution reasonably believes knows the identity of the student to whom the education records relates.625
An educational institution or agency may, however, release “directory information” to the public if the educational institution or agency complies with certain procedures. Directory information626
includes, but is not limited to, the following information: “the student’s name; address; telephone listing; electronic mail address; photograph; date and place of birth; major field of study; grade level; enrollment status (e.g., undergraduate or graduate, full-time or part-time); dates of attendance; participation in officially recognized activities and sports; weight and height of members of athletic teams; degrees, honors, and awards received; and the most recent educational agency or institution
34 C.F.R. § 99.3.
627
Open Records Decision No. 96 (1975); see also Open Records Decision Nos. 244 (1980) (student rosters public),
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242 (1980) (student parking permit information public), 193 (1978) (report of accident insurance claims paid to identifiable students not public).
See Open Records Decision Nos. 342 at 2–3 (1982), 205 at 2 (1978).
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20 U.S.C. § 1232g(a)(4)(B)(ii).
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Open Records Decision N o. 612 at 2 (1992) (campus police department records were not excepted by statutory
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predecessor to Gov’t Code § 552.101, incorporating FERPA, or statutory predecessor to Gov’t Code § 552.114).
See Open Records Decision No. 390 at 3 (1983) (City of Fort W orth is not “educational agency” within FERPA).
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20 U.S.C. § 1232g(a)(3).
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20 U.S.C. § 1232g(b)(1)(E), (b)(4)(B); 34 C.F.R. §§ 99.31, .33, .35.
634
Open Records Decision No. 431 (1985).
635
Letter from LeRoy S. Rooker, Director, Family Policy Compliance Office, United States Dep’t of Educ., to Keith
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B. Kyle (July 1999) (on file with the Open Records Division, Office of the Attorney General).
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attended.” The attorney general has determined that marital status and expected date of graduation627
also constitute directory information.628
University police department records concerning students previously were held to be education records for the purposes of FERPA. However, FERPA was amended, effective July 23, 1992, to629
provide that the term “education records” does not include “records maintained by a law enforcement unit of the educational agency or institution that were created by that law enforcement unit for the purpose of law enforcement.” On the basis of this provision, records created by a state university630
campus police department are not excepted from required public disclosure by section 552.026 of the Government Code.631
FERPA applies only to records at educational institutions or agencies receiving federal funds and does not govern access to records in the custody of governmental bodies that are not educational institutions or agencies. An “educational agency or institution” is “any public or private agency632
or institution” that receives federal funds under an applicable program. Thus, an agency or633
institution need not instruct students in order to qualify as an educational agency or institution under FERPA. If education records are transferred by a school district or state institution of higher education to a state administrative agency concerned with education, federal regulations provide that the education records in the administrative agency’s possession are subject to FERPA.634
If there is a conflict between the provisions of the state Public Information Act and FERPA, the federal statute prevails. However, the attorney general has been informed by the Family Policy635
Compliance Office of the United States Department of Education that parents’ rights to information about their children under FERPA do not prevail over school districts’ rights to assert the attorney- client and work product privileges. As a general rule, however, exceptions to disclosure under the636
Public Information Act do not apply to a request by a student or parent for the student’s own education records pursuant to FERPA.637
In Open Records Decision No. 634 (1995), the attorney general stated that an educational agency or institution that seeks a ruling under the Public Information Act should, before submitting “education
See Letter from LeRoy S. Rooker, Director, Family Policy Compliance Office, United States Dep’t of Educ., to
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David Anderson, Chief Counsel, Tex. Educ. Agency (April 29, 1998) (on file with the Open Records Division, Office of the Attorney General).
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This letter is available on the attorney general’s website at: http://www.oag.state.tx.us/open/20060725usdoe.pdf
See 34 C.F.R. § 99.3 (defining “personally identifiable information”).
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In the future, if an educational authority does obtain parental consent to submit unredacted education records and
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the educational authority seeks a ruling from the attorney general on the proper redaction of those education records in compliance with FERPA, we will rule accordingly.
Act of Sept. 1, 2003, 78th Leg., R.S., ch. 198, §1.01, 2003 Tex. Gen. Laws 611 (Texas Department of Health is part
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of Texas Department of State Health Services).
records” to the attorney general, either obtain parental consent to the disclosure of personally identifiable nondirectory information in the records or edit the records to make sure that they contain no personally identifiable nondirectory information. Subsequent correspondence from the United States Department of Education advised that educational agencies and institutions may submit personally identifiable information subject to FERPA to the attorney general for purposes of obtaining rulings as to whether information contained therein must be withheld under FERPA or state law. In 2006, however, the United States Department of Education Family Policy638
Compliance Office informed the attorney general that FERPA does not permit state and local educational authorities to disclose to the attorney general, without parental consent, unredacted, personally identifiable information contained in education records for the purpose of our review in the open records ruling process under the Public Information Act. Consequently, state and local639
educational authorities that receive a request for education records from a member of the public under the Public Information Act must not submit education records to the attorney general in unredacted form, that is, in a form in which “personally identifiable information” is disclosed.640
Because the attorney general is prohibited from reviewing these education records to determine whether appropriate redactions under FERPA have been made, the attorney general will not address the applicability of FERPA to any records submitted as part of a request for decision. Such determinations under FERPA must be made by the educational authority in possession of the education records. Questions about FERPA should be directed to the following agency:641
Family Policy Compliance Office U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Ave., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20202-5920 (202) 260-3887