English
EspañolCan non-custodial parent access child's school records
NOTE - LOOK TO SEE IF WE HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THIS ON THE CUSTODY SECTION OR IF SHE HAS AN RO, IN THE RO SECTION
IF SO, CAN ADD THAT INFORMATION TO THIS SAMPLE LANG
Although we don’t have specific information about this on our website, I did do a bit of research and found this federal law known as FERPA, which seems to discuss a non-custodial parent’s right to request records. You can read information about it on this government website: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs97/p97527/exh_5_1.asp I highlighted one section from that page here:
“…in the case of divorce or separation, a school district must provide access to both natural parents, custodial and non-custodial, unless there is a legally binding document that specifically removes that parent’s FERPA rights. In this context, a legally binding document is a court order or other legal paper that prohibits access to education record, or removes the parent’s rights to have knowledge about his or her child’s education.”
The reason I highlighted this portion is that in many states, as part of a protection order or custody order, a parent can ask the judge to deny the other parent the right to medical, education, and other records if it would protect the safety of the child/parent. For example, if a parent is living in a confidential location and the abuser could find out the child’s address or school location by looking in the school records, this may be a reason that a judge would prevent that parent from getting access. If you want to talk to a lawyer to get advice as to whether or not you may be able to go back into court to request some type of order preventing the other parent from accessing the records, here is a link for lawyers, some of which may be free or low cost if you qualify: LINK
