The right to consent to disclosures of personally
identifiable information contained in the student's educational
record, except where FERPA authorizes disclosure without
consent.
One exception which permits disclosure without consent
is disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational
interests. A school official is a person employed by the
Division as an administrator, supervisor, instructor,
or support staff member (including health or medical staff
and law enforcement unit personnel); a person serving
on the School Board; a person or company with whom the
Division has contracted to perform a special task (such
as an attorney, auditor, medical consultant, or therapist);
or a parent or student serving on an official committee,
such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting
another school official in order to fulfill his or her
professional responsibility.
Upon request, the Division discloses education records
without consent to officials of another school division
in which a student seeks or intends to enroll. An accurate
and complete educational record is maintained on each
student enrolled in the public schools of Newport News.
This student educational record contains information such
as home address, birth date, scholastic work completed,
level of achievement, standardized test scores, attendance
and health information. Additional information is maintained
in the student educational record for students who require
differentiated programs and/or special services.
Student educational records are located in the schools.
Additional copies of some records are located in the Central
Records Department at the Central Administration Building
on Warwick Boulevard.
The Superintendent of Schools or designee, whose office
is located at 12465 Warwick Boulevard, is responsible
for the maintenance of all student records. Except in
emergency situations, compliance with law enforcement
judicial orders and subpoenas, or for educational purposes
consistent with the regulations of the state school board,
disclosure of information from a student's educational
record is made only with the consent of the parent or
eligible student (when he/she reaches 18 years of age).
In accordance with the Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act (FERPA), both parents, custodial and non-custodial,
have equal access to student information unless the school
has evidence of a court order revoking these rights. When
students reach the age of 18 years or when they become
students at post secondary education institutions, they
become "eligible students" and rights under
FERPA transfer to them; however, parents retain access
to student records of children who are their dependents
for tax purposes.
Student educational records are retained at the last
school enrolled or the Central Records Department at the
Central Administration Building for students who require
differentiated programs and/or special services for 5
years after a student graduates, completes a Board of
Education-adopted program, or leaves school (withdraws).
Permanent record retention is maintained in accordance
with the State Board of Education's regulations and guidelines,
the Code of Virginia and the Records Management Division
of the Library of Virginia, which manages the retention
and destruction of all public agency records. NNPS will
shred all material that is no longer educationally useful
at the end of the 5-year period. If parents wish to review
and/or have a copy of this data, they must contact the
individual schools or Central Records Department before
the end of the retention period. Personally identifiable
information in a student's educational record may be classified
as Directory Information. Such information on students
is not released or made public, but may be disclosed on
accordance with the School Board's written policy on the
management of student records, available from the school
principal.
A fee, established by the school division not to exceed
the cost of reproduction, will be charged for copying
information in the student educational record. No fee
is charged for search and retrieval, for copies of the
Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) or health and immunization
records. Official copies of student educational records
will be sent to the receiving schools or transfer students
at no charge. Unofficial copies of student educational
records will be give at $0.10 per page. The first copy
of the transcript is requested by a high school student
(for college, employer, etc.) will be free. All other
copies of the transcript will be made at a charge of $2.00
per transcript. This includes official and unofficial
copies.
