Secretary of Education Issues DCL on FERPA and Parental Rights

On March 28, 2025, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon issued a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) pledging to enforce compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA). FERPA grants parents the right to review, inspect, and amend their child’s education records and to restrict disclosure of those records with certain exceptions. The PPRA gives parents the right to opt their child out of certain surveys and physical examinations and to inspect instructional and curricular materials. Failure to comply with these statutes can result in federal funds being withheld. 

The DCL says that some states and schools have adopted policies that “specifically instruct teachers and administrators to conceal critical information in student records from their parents.” In the DCL, Secretary McMahon declared that “[g]oing forward, the Department of Education will insist that schools apply FERPA correctly to uphold, not thwart, parents’ rights.”

Attached to the DCL is a letter from the USDOE’s Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO), reminding states and schools of their legal obligations under FERPA and identifying the following concerns as priorities:

Parental Right to Inspect and Review Education Records

According to the SPPO letter, many schools may have policies and practices that conflict with a parent’s right to inspect and review their child’s education records under FERPA. As an example, the SPPO alleged that schools are creating “Gender Plans” for students but keeping them in separate files so that the school may assert that these plans are not “education records” that can be reviewed and inspected by parents. While FERPA does not provide an affirmative obligation for school officials to inform parents about information contained in an “education record,” parents have a right to inspect and review information directly related to their child and maintained by the school, including any “Gender Plans” created by the school. 

Student Safety

 The SPPO letter claims that many parents have complained that they are concerned about the safety of their children because schools are asserting that FERPA requires them to withhold safety information from parents. According to SPPO, to ensure student health and safety, schools should not withhold from parents information that identifies other students who have made death threats against their children. For example, if Student A writes a note describing an intent to kill Student B, FERPA does not preclude school officials from communicating to Student B’s parents that responsive action is being taken with respect to a threat assessment or potential disciplinary action. Similarly, safety measures that a school might take that directly affect both Student A and Student B, such as a no contact order or additional supervision in hallways or on transportation, may be disclosed to both students’ parents. However, disciplinary action imposed on Student A usually cannot be shared with Student B’s parents, unless the discipline directly relates to both students.

Annual Notification of Rights

The SPPO letter alleges that many schools are not properly notifying parents of their FERPA rights. It reminds school officials that they must annually notify parents of these rights. This notice may be sent to parents en masse and can be transmitted by any means that are “reasonably likely to inform” parents of their rights, such as by publication in the school calendar, newsletter, student handbook, or school website.

Military Recruiters

The SPPO letter reminds school officials that the Elementary and Secondary Education Act gives military recruiters the same access to secondary students as provided to college recruiters or to prospective employers and requires that schools provide student information when requested, unless a parent has opted out.

If you have questions regarding FERPA, the PPRA, or the information in the DCL and SPPO letter, please contact a Thrun student matters attorney.