Is it legal for my child’s school to disclose my health history during a meeting in Montana USA?
#FERPA #studentrecords #schoolprivacy #specialneeds #healthhistory #disclosurelaws
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**Background**
– My child has an IEP due to a disability
– Manifestation determination review meeting was held
– Conduct was deemed a result of the disability
– School administrator disclosed my past health history
– Confidential information shared in front of multiple individuals
**Key Issue**
– Did the school violate FERPA laws by disclosing irrelevant health history?
– Is family health history considered part of student records in Montana?
– Legal implications of the school’s actions
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Engage with the community and explore the impact of privacy violations in educational settings. Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below. #FERPAViolation #ParentalRights #StudentPrivacy #MontanaSchools
I am a school admin, NAL. I think this is a complex enough issue. You really should be consulting a local attorney who handles FERPA/HIPPAA. You can usually discuss through the Parent Advocacy Office as well.
This was a PPT, so I’m struggling to see where this would be a FERPA violation. Student records are (and should be) discussed during a PPT. I bring up information from family health records all the time in a PPT (ie. I saw that ADHD runs in your family, has little Billy exhibited similar symptoms as others?)
What it may be is a HIPAA violation; however, the school administrator has no role that would HIPAA, only the psychologist who seemed to do that assessment by the book.
Now, this is certainly a totally tactless thing to say and shouldn’t have been brought up. I would definitely request it be removed from the eval. All it needs to say is “family history of depression.” So what I WOULD do is either through an attorney or with a strongly worded letter to the Board of Ed, Super, and principal explain that this information was out of line to share and that you expect more tact in the future, along with the removal.
Edit: I just saw the line about the CPS report. THAT is out of line. Is it possible it didn’t have a tome frame listed and they thought it was recent? If not… get a lawyer. That isn’t a good faith report if the evaluation said it was years ago when you were an early teen
NAL, I’ve been that school social worker though (and I have a child on an IEP), and I would never put something like this in the Evaluation Report. I would put something like, “parent reports a family history of depression” or something vague like that. It’s simply not relevant to this situation at hand. Tons of parents have done self-injurious and troublesome things in their past, we’re human beings! I’ve had parents tell me some shocking stuff, but if it’s not immediately relevant to the student, it doesn’t get put in the official report.
I would work with your state’s [Parent Advocacy Organization](https://mtempowermentcenter.org) to get this statement removed from your child’s Report. It sounds like you could use their advocacy for your student in other areas, too which this awful district.
The CPS call was out of line, I’m so sorry. Keep advocating for your student and yourself, you’re doing a good job. You don’t deserve to be treated this way.
Who called CPS after the meeting? Did you mean “and then called CPS” as in you called? Or “and they called CPS”?
The admin broke FERPA by verbalizing your history in an open meeting. Report then please
Sounds like they called CPS to punish you for questioning them. I would change schools asap, these “educational professionals” are on a delusional power trip.