Do I have a right to access my child’s educational records?

Education records refer to any information about a current or former student that has been officially documented by a school administration — whether that’s through handwriting, print, digital filing, video and/or audio recordings, and so on. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) gives a parent the right to access their child’s educational records and the right to use those records to file a complaint with the Department of Education if needed (but note that FERPA typically only protects the privacy of public school records). Moreover, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) also includes protections that apply to the education records of special education students.

For more information, see our article Requesting Our Child’s Educational Records.