SAU #70 Notification:
Parent & Student Rights

OUR SCHOOLS ARE COMMITTED TO THE FOLLOWING:

1. No person shall be excluded from or discriminated against in admission to a public school or in obtaining the advantages or privileges of any services, programs, activities, or extracurricular activities on the basis of his/her race, color, sex, religion, or national origin.

2. No otherwise qualified handicapped individual shall, solely by reasons of his/her handicap, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity offered by these districts.

3. No applicants for employment shall be discriminated against on the basis of age, race, color, sex, religion, national origin, or handicap. Further, SAU #70 is committed to equal employment opportunity and encourages applications from minorities and men and women in nontraditional fields.

The Title IX Coordinator and the Section 504 Coordinator for SAU #70 is Jane Weissmann, Assistant Superintendent: Special Services.

Inquiries regarding compliance may be directed to the above named persons, or to the Director of the Office of Civil Rights, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Washington, D. C., or the Office of Civil Rights, Region I, 140 Federal St., 14th Floor, Boston, MA 02110.

HATCH AMENDMENT, 20 U.S. CODE #1232h

Protection of Pupil Rights - Sec. 439

(a) All instructional material, including teachers' manuals, films, tapes, or other supplementary instructional material which will be used in connection with any survey, analysis, or evaluation as part of any applicable program shall be available for inspection by the parents or guardians of the children.

(b) No student shall be required, as part of any applicable program, to submit to a survey, analysis, or evaluation that reveals information concerning:

  1. political affiliations;
  2. mental and psychological problems potentially embarrassing to the student or his family;
  3. sexual behavior and attitudes;
  4. illegal, antisocial, self-incriminating and demeaning behavior;
  5. critical appraisals of other individuals with whom respondents have close family relationships;
  6. legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships, such as those of lawyers, physicians, and ministers; or
  7. income (other than that required by law to determine eligibility for participation in a program or for receiving financial assistance under such program), without the prior consent of the student (if the student is an adult or emancipated minor), without the prior written consent of the parent.

(c) Educational agencies and institutions shall give parents and students effective notice of their rights under this section.

NOTIFICATION TO PARENTS

The Federal Education Rights Privacy Act (FERPA) was originally passed in 1974. This act outlines the rights of parents with respect to children's school records. In summary, parents have the right to:

1. Inspect and review the student's education records.

  1. Any parent my request the Principal of the building to make available to him or her, at a specified time, his child's cumulative record folder.
  2. Cumulative record folders may be reviewed in a school building at a specified place in the presence of a school administrator or his designee.
  3. No material may be removed from the file nor may the file be removed from the school.

2. Request the amendment of the student's education records to ensure that they
are not inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student's
privacy or other rights, and be provided with a process which includes a hearing
and the right to attach differing perspectives to the record.

  1. Parents who feel that inappropriate material is included in their child's cumulative record are asked to submit a written statement of this fact to the Principal.
  2. The Principal, in cooperation with the Pupil Services Team, will review the parent's concern and either remove the controversial material or give to the parents reasons why this is not being done. Parents may request a hearing with the Principal and Pupil Services Team.
  3. Parents may place in the student's file a statement concerning their belief that certain material is inappropriate.
  4. Decisions of the Principal and the Pupil Services Team may be appealed by the parents to the Superintendent and through him to the School Board.

3. Consent to disclosure of personally identifiable information contained in the student's education records, except to the extent that the Act authorizes disclosure without consent;

4. File with the U. S. Department of Education a complaint concerning alleged failures by the school to comply with requirements of the Act; and

5. Obtain a copy of the school's policy and written procedures or protocols related to student records.

The above rights are subject to the specific terms of the Act which are quite detailed. The entire Act is available upon request to the Superintendent's office at 45 Lyme Road, Hanover, NH 03755 - 603-643-6050.
-- September 1999