AG opines in favor of student coverage

After months of confusion, the dust is settling in the student right to privacy laws presented by Rep. John Schroder, R-Covington.
Attorney General James “Buddy” Caldwell has provided some clarity with help from the Louisiana School Board Association in an opinion issued Wednesday.
Simply put, school boards must adopt a policy that provides many normal exceptions to the “privacy” portion of the laws, i.e. safety concerns, yearbooks, extracurricular activities.
In his opinion, Caldwell writes to Schroder, “You advised that ‘the primary focus [of Act 837] was mandating the creation of the unique identifier system, preventing the State from broad access to personally identifiable student information, and preventing the sale or commercialization of student data.’ Your request letter further states that it was never your intent to prohibit ‘many common and non-intrusive uses of student information for such things as sports team rosters and displays of student names on school grounds.’”
Based on the fact the law as written didn’t expressly prohibit the common uses, Caldwell opined that school boards that adopt the proposed LSBA policy would be consistent with the law and that coverage of schools by newspapers can continue as normal.
Caldwell seemingly came to his opinion, in part, due to the fact that Schroder revisited the law this past legislative session and amended a portion of the 2014 law to provide some flexibility in the rather strict law.
“Subsequent to the passage of Act 837, you determined that the original Subparagraph H did not provide enough flexibility to local school districts in allowing access to student data for ordinary and customary educational activities. Therefore, in 2015, you authored Act 228 to amend Subparagraph H,” wrote Caldwell in his opinion.
Under the LSBA’s proposed policy, which school districts across the state are considering for adoption as their student data policy, the following allowances are made the board is specifically directed in writing otherwise by a parent, legal guardian or a student who has reached the age or majority:
• Information to protect the health, safety or welfare of a student or the general public;
• Information to facilitate a student’s participation in a school sanctioned extracurricular activity, including but no limited to a sport, organization or club;
• Information to facilitate the operation and daily activities within district facilities, including but not limited to the display and use of student information in and around student facilities;
• Programs and activities related to school sanctioned performances or productions, events, awards programs and graduations;
• University transcript requests, scholarships and admissions;
• LHSAA, NCAA and other related sports programs or sanctioning entities;
• Online resources and educational tools;
• School photography and yearbook providers;
• Information provided in accordance with a contract between the board and a public or private entity which has been contracted to perform student or education services, but only to the extent provided for in such a contract; and
• Directory information, to the extent allowed in FERPA.