What Is FERPA All About Continued

Access to sensitive information about students is a professional privilege that we all need to complete our daily job duties, but we must remember that the privilege carries with it a legal and ethical responsibility. We must understand and agree to comply with the law's provisions about confidentiality and student information.

As long as we have access to student information, or if we maintain student records, we are personally responsible for the security and the confidentiality of these records.

It doesn't matter how the information is conveyed, whether we

• Speak it over the phone
• Leave a report lying on our desk
• Leave a grade book open where students can see it
• or walk away from a computer screen that displays student records