22.1-289 - Transfer and management of scholastic records; disclosure of information in court notices; penalty. - Virginia Statutes

§ 22.1-289. Transfer and management of scholastic records; disclosure ofinformation in court notices; penalty.

A. As used in this section:

"Scholastic record" means those records that are directly related to astudent and are maintained by an educational agency or institution or by aparty acting for the agency or institution. These include, but are notlimited to, documentation pertinent to the educational growth and developmentof students as they progress through school, student disciplinary records,achievement and test data, cumulative health records, reports of assessmentsfor eligibility for special education services, and Individualized EducationPrograms. Such records may be recorded in any way, including, but not limitedto, handwriting, print, computer media, video or audio tape, film, microfilm,and microfiche.

A notice of adjudication or conviction received by a superintendent relatingto an incident which did not occur on school property or during aschool-sponsored activity shall not be a part of a student's scholasticrecord.

The term "scholastic record" also shall not include records ofinstructional, supervisory, administrative, and ancillary educationalpersonnel that are kept in the sole possession of the maker of the record andare not accessible or revealed to any other person except a temporarysubstitute for the maker of the record.

B. Whenever a pupil transfers from one school division to another, thescholastic record or a copy of the scholastic record shall be transferred tothe school division to which the pupil transfers upon request from suchschool division. Permission of the parent, guardian, or other person havingcontrol or charge of the student shall not be required for transfer of suchscholastic record to another school or school division within or outside theCommonwealth.

C. Any notice of disposition received pursuant to § 16.1-305.1 shall not beretained after the student has been awarded a diploma or a certificate asprovided in § 22.1-253.13:4.

D. Every student's scholastic record shall be available to the student andhis parent, guardian, or other person having control or charge of the studentfor inspection during the regular school day. Permission of the parent,guardian, or other person having control or charge of the student, or of astudent who is 18 years of age or older, shall not be required for transferof such scholastic record to another school or school division within orwithout this Commonwealth.

Consistent with federal law and regulation, each school shall annually notifyparents of students currently enrolled and in attendance of their rightsunder the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. §1232g) and related regulations.

A school responding to a request for the transfer of the scholastic recordfrom another school division need not provide written notice of the transferof the record, including the identity of the requester, to the parent,guardian, or other person having control or charge of the student, or to astudent who is 18 years of age or older, if the school has previouslyincluded in the annual notice required by this subsection a statement that itforwards such records to such requesting school divisions.

E. Whenever the division superintendent is notified by the Department ofJuvenile Justice, pursuant to § 16.1-287, the Department of CorrectionalEducation, pursuant to § 22.1-344 of this title, or by a school divisionemployee responsible for education programs in a local jail or a detentioncenter, that a pupil who last attended a school within the school division isa pupil in a school of a juvenile correctional center of the Department ofJuvenile Justice, or a pupil in an educational program in a local jail ordetention center, the school division superintendent or his designee shalltransfer the scholastic record of such pupil to the designated juvenilecorrectional center or local jail or a detention center, as the case may be,within five work days. The Department of Correctional Education shalltransfer the scholastic record of a student who has been discharged from ajuvenile correctional center of the Department of Juvenile Justice to therelevant school division within five work days of the student's discharge.

The Board of Education shall adopt regulations concerning the transfer andmanagement of scholastic records from one school division to another, to thelearning centers of the Department of Juvenile Justice, and to educationalprograms in local jails and detention centers.

Upon receiving notice of a foster care placement of a student acrossjurisdictional lines, the sending school division and the receiving schooldivision, as such school divisions are defined in subsection D of § 22.1-3.4,shall expedite the transfer of the scholastic record of the student.

F. The division superintendent or his designee shall notify the local policeor sheriff's department for investigation as a possible missing child of anyenrolled pupil whose scholastic record he is unable to obtain within 60 daysor sooner, if the division superintendent or his designee has reason tosuspect that the pupil is a missing child.

G. Superintendents and their designees shall be immune from any civil orcriminal liability in connection with any notice to a police or sheriff'sdepartment of a pupil lacking a scholastic record or failure to give suchnotice as required by this section.

H. Except as provided in §§ 16.1-309 and 22.1-287 and this section, asuperintendent or his designee, or other school personnel who unlawfullydiscloses information obtained pursuant to § 16.1-305.1 shall be guilty of aClass 3 misdemeanor.

(Code 1950, § 22-275.28; 1975, c. 639; 1980, c. 559; 1985, c. 593; 1990, c.797; 1991, c. 295; 1993, cc. 740, 889; 1994, cc. 808, 835, 913; 1996, c.1000; 2000, c. 86; 2005, c. 343; 2006, c. 47.)