Question
I am seeking records from a local school district that is, I believe, withholding public information by inaccurately citing student privacy. I am looking for advice.
Answer
If the records you seek pertain to a specific student, the school district may claim the records are exempt, under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, which is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. Although the CPRA itself contains no exemption for such records, the applicable federal law is incorporated by reference under Gov’t Code § 6254(k).
If you have not already done so, you may want to make a written request to obtain the records you are seeking. This will require the school district to respond to your request in writing, and if it claims the records are exempt for privacy reasons, it will have to explain which specific exemption applies and how. If this occurs, you can write further to the school district explaining why you don’t believe the particular exemption cited would apply in your situation.
You can find more information on the Public Records Act, including a sample letter, here.
Bryan Cave LLP is general counsel for the First Amendment Coalition and responds to FAC hotline inquiries. In responding to these inquiries, we can give general information regarding open government and speech issues but cannot provide specific legal advice or representation. No attorney-client relationship has been formed by way of this response.
Asked & Answered posts should not be relied on as legal advice, and FAC makes no guarantees about their completeness or accuracy. All posts carry a date of publication that readers should take note of in assessing their usefulness, given that laws and interpretations of them may change over time. Posts predating Jan. 1, 2023, that discuss the California Public Records Act may contain statute numbers no longer in use. Please see this page for a table showing how the California Public Records Act has been renumbered.