FERPA

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

Notification of grades or discussions with students about grades or other non-directory student information to third parties via e-mail, text messaging, instant messaging or other electronic means of communications is not allowed. School directory information refers to data such as a student’s name, address, telephone number; degrees, honors and awards; dates of attendance, schools previously attended, participation in officially recognized activities and sports; weight and height and grade level of members of athletic teams; and work created by the student for school-related purposes. There is no guarantee of confidentiality in transmitting information electronically through the Internet. An unauthorized release of grades to someone who is not a school official NWIC would be in violation of FERPA. Do not transfer records electronically unless you are sure that the method is properly secured.

Are digital communications student records? The short answer is that in most jurisdictions, courts have not answered this question. There is an argument that digital communications are not student records, even if a student can be identified therein, unless they have been printed out and maintained in a physical file for the student. The safest approach is to continue to treat digital communications as student records until there is more clarity in the law.

So, there is good reason to believe that emails, texts, Tweets, and other digital communications between teachers, administrators, parents, and students about students are not student records unless they are maintained in the student’s file. As sharing information online continues to evolve, the question is far from settled. Moreover, parents have shown a willingness to file lawsuits seeking records. School districts that do not wish to face a legal challenge may take the more conservative approach and treat emails and other digital communications as student records.

If school employees do choose to use personal technology to communicate with students, they should sign an acknowledgement recognizing limitations in Board policies on their reasonable expectation of privacy to those records and of the fact that they may be required to turn the records or even their personal technological devices over to the school to the extent allowed by law.

Schools may disclose, without consent, “student directory information” such as a student’s name, address, telephone number; degrees, honors and awards; dates of attendance, schools previously attended, participation in officially recognized activities and sports; weight and height and grade level of members of athletic teams; and work created by the student for school-related purposes. However, schools must tell parents and eligible students about directory information and allow parents and eligible students a reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose directory information about them.

Sources
http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/are-emails-texts-tweets-and-other-dig-60950/