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Home > Rules & Legislation > Letters from the Commissioner > Administrative Letters > Letter 11
ADMINISTRATIVE LETTER: 11
TO: Superintendents of Schools, Private School Administrators, Principals, and School Counselors FROM: Susan A. Gendron, Commissioner DATE: October 19, 2006 SUBJECT: Access to High School Students and Information on Students by Military Recruiters Two pieces of federal law have brought about broader access to students by military recruiters.
Also, §544 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 requires LEAs to notify parents of their right to opt out of the disclosure of their children's names, addresses, and telephone numbers and of the requirement to comply with any such requests from the parents or the students. The Family Policy Compliance Office at the United States Education Department is responsible for enforcement of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). It has been determined that providing names, addresses, and telephone numbers of students to military or college recruiters in accordance with the No Child Left Behind Act is not a violation of FERPA. The annual notice required by FERPA should include notice of this access, and should provide parents notice of the opportunity to remove their student’s name from the list to be released. It is important to note that the federal term “local educational agency” includes all public and private schools operated in the physical territory of a school system, regardless of approval status of the private school. Therefore, this federal law applies to private high schools in Maine. Any form to request to opt out of the disclosure should contain the name of the student, the attending school and a signatory line to attest to the request, “Please do not release my child’s name, address or telephone number to military recruiters without my prior written consent.” This also would apply to disclosures to institutions of higher education. A student 18 years or older must sign his or her own statement of request to opt out of the disclosure of their directory information to military recruiters or institutions of higher education. Schools have made these statements available by providing them in student handbooks, placing them in the guidance office or main office of the school, and inserting the information on emergency forms or other documents that are routinely signed and returned to school. I strongly recommend that you add a check-off on the student emergency information cards for this purpose. Although this law has been in place for three years, there is a continuing need for consistency in the way schools notify parents and students of the right to opt out of the disclosure. In an attempt to achieve continuity statewide, I am providing model opt out language for your consideration and requesting that you provide notice to all parents now, and that you use this language routinely in the future.
For the parent of a student: I am the parent or legal guardian of ________________________________________________ who is a student at _______________________________________________________. Please do not release my child’s name, address or telephone number to the following without my prior written consent (initial one or both):
Signature: _________________________________________ Date: _____________________ For the student who is 18 years of age or older: I am a student who is 18 years of age or older at ______________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ school. Please do not release my name, address or telephone number to the following without my prior written consent (initial one or both):
Signature: _________________________________________ Date: ____________________ If you have any questions, please contact Shelley Reed, Education Specialist for Truancy, Dropout Prevention, Alternative Education, Homeless Education, and School Counselors at 207-624-6637 or SAG/GS/dcm
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