PLEASE READ ALL OF THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION CAREFULLY. If you have any questions about this information, please discuss it with Superintendent/Principal Eric Gross.

The following types of information about students are CONFIDENTIAL:

• Academic strengths, weaknesses, skills, performance on tests, etc.
• Special education status, resources received or declined, etc.
• Discipline issues or disciplinary actions taken by staff
• Medical information, diagnoses, etc.
• Any details about a student’s family life or personal situation. (Parents and students need to make their own decisions about what to reveal publicly.)
• Immigration status
• Any information that might be embarrassing or sensitive

Students in the Pacific Elementary School District have the right to expect that all volunteers working in its school will keep information about them confidential. The California Education Code prohibits volunteers from giving out any personal information concerning any pupil who is not his or her own child to any person other than a teacher or administrator at the school. The statute also prohibits the disclosure of any information including discussing a child’s circumstance without using his/her name.

Additionally, the U.S. congress has addressed the privacy-related concerns of educators, parents, and students by enacting the “Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (knows more commonly as “FERPA” or the “Buckley Agreement”). Among other provisions, FERPA allows the government to withdraw federal funds from any educational institution, including the Pacific Elementary School District, which disseminates a student’s educational records without his or her parents’ consent.

• Each student with whom you work has the right to expect that nothing that happens to or about him or her will be repeated to anyone other than authorized school employees, as designated by the administrator at the school. Even when discussing a student with those who are directly involved in a student’s education, such as a teacher or principal, you may not share otherwise confidential information with them unless it is relevant to the student’s educational growth, safety, or well being.

• You may not share information about a student even with others who are genuinely interested in the student’s welfare, such as social workers, scout leaders, or clergy (a grave medical emergency, in which confidential information may be necessary for the student’s care, is the only exception). Thus, you must refer all such questions to the school employees so authorized and indicated to you, typically the student’s teacher or the principal.

• Parents, friends, or community members may in good faith ask you questions about a student’s problems or progress. Again, you must refer all such questions to the authorized school employees. You may not share information about a student even with members of your own family or the student’s family.

• Remember that violating a student’s confidentiality isn’t just unethical; it is against the law.