Ohio Revised Code
Chapter 3319 | Schools - Superintendent; Teachers; Employees
Section 3319.321 | Confidentiality.

Effective: September 29, 2007
Latest Legislation: House Bill 9 - 126th General Assembly
(A) No person shall release, or permit access to, the directory information concerning any students attending a public school to any person or group for use in a profit-making plan or activity. Notwithstanding division (B)(4) of section 149.43 of the Revised Code, a person may require disclosure of the requestor's identity or the intended use of the directory information concerning any students attending a public school to ascertain whether the directory information is for use in a profit-making plan or activity.
(B) No person shall release, or permit access to, personally identifiable information other than directory information concerning any student attending a public school, for purposes other than those identified in division (C), (E), (G), or (H) of this section, without the written consent of the parent, guardian, or custodian of each such student who is less than eighteen years of age, or without the written consent of each such student who is eighteen years of age or older.
(1) For purposes of this section, "directory information" includes a student's name, address, telephone listing, date and place of birth, major field of study, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, date of graduation, and awards received.
(2)(a) Except as provided in division (B)(2)(b) of this section, no school district board of education shall impose any restriction on the presentation of directory information that it has designated as subject to release in accordance with the "Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974," 88 Stat. 571, 20 U.S.C. 1232q, as amended, to representatives of the armed forces, business, industry, charitable institutions, other employers, and institutions of higher education unless such restriction is uniformly imposed on each of these types of representatives, except that if a student eighteen years of age or older or a student's parent, guardian, or custodian has informed the board that any or all such information should not be released without such person's prior written consent, the board shall not release that information without such person's prior written consent.
(b) The names and addresses of students in grades ten through twelve shall be released to a recruiting officer for any branch of the United States armed forces who requests such information, except that such data shall not be released if the student or student's parent, guardian, or custodian submits to the board a written request not to release such data. Any data received by a recruiting officer shall be used solely for the purpose of providing information to students regarding military service and shall not be released to any person other than individuals within the recruiting services of the armed forces.
(3) Except for directory information and except as provided in division (E), (G), or (H) of this section, information covered by this section that is released shall only be transferred to a third or subsequent party on the condition that such party will not permit any other party to have access to such information without written consent of the parent, guardian, or custodian, or of the student who is eighteen years of age or older.
(4) Except as otherwise provided in this section, any parent of a student may give the written parental consent required under this section. Where parents are separated or divorced, the written parental consent required under this section may be obtained from either parent, subject to any agreement between such parents or court order governing the rights of such parents. In the case of a student whose legal guardian is in an institution, a person independent of the institution who has no other conflicting interests in the case shall be appointed by the board of education of the school district in which the institution is located to give the written parental consent required under this section.
(5)(a) A parent of a student who is not the student's residential parent, upon request, shall be permitted access to any records or information concerning the student under the same terms and conditions under which access to the records or information is available to the residential parent of that student, provided that the access of the parent who is not the residential parent is subject to any agreement between the parents, to division (F) of this section, and, to the extent described in division (B)(5)(b) of this section, is subject to any court order issued pursuant to section 3109.051 of the Revised Code and any other court order governing the rights of the parents.
(b) If the residential parent of a student has presented the keeper of a record or information that is related to the student with a copy of an order issued under division (H)(1) of section 3109.051 of the Revised Code that limits the terms and conditions under which the parent who is not the residential parent of the student is to have access to records and information pertaining to the student or with a copy of any other court order governing the rights of the parents that so limits those terms and conditions, and if the order pertains to the record or information in question, the keeper of the record or information shall provide access to the parent who is not the residential parent only to the extent authorized in the order. If the residential parent has presented the keeper of the record or information with such an order, the keeper of the record shall permit the parent who is not the residential parent to have access to the record or information only in accordance with the most recent such order that has been presented to the keeper by the residential parent or the parent who is not the residential parent.
(C) Nothing in this section shall limit the administrative use of public school records by a person acting exclusively in the person's capacity as an employee of a board of education or of the state or any of its political subdivisions, any court, or the federal government, and nothing in this section shall prevent the transfer of a student's record to an educational institution for a legitimate educational purpose. However, except as provided in this section, public school records shall not be released or made available for any other purpose. Fingerprints, photographs, or records obtained pursuant to section 3313.96 or 3319.322 of the Revised Code, or pursuant to division (E) of this section, or any medical, psychological, guidance, counseling, or other information that is derived from the use of the fingerprints, photographs, or records, shall not be admissible as evidence against the minor who is the subject of the fingerprints, photographs, or records in any proceeding in any court. The provisions of this division regarding the administrative use of records by an employee of the state or any of its political subdivisions or of a court or the federal government shall be applicable only when the use of the information is required by a state statute adopted before November 19, 1974, or by federal law.
(D) A board of education may require, subject to division (E) of this section, a person seeking to obtain copies of public school records to pay the cost of reproduction and, in the case of data released under division (B)(2)(b) of this section, to pay for any mailing costs, which payment shall not exceed the actual cost to the school.
(E) A principal or chief administrative officer of a public school, or any employee of a public school who is authorized to handle school records, shall provide access to a student's records to a law enforcement officer who indicates that the officer is conducting an investigation and that the student is or may be a missing child, as defined in section 2901.30 of the Revised Code. Free copies of information in the student's record shall be provided, upon request, to the law enforcement officer, if prior approval is given by the student's parent, guardian, or legal custodian. Information obtained by the officer shall be used solely in the investigation of the case. The information may be used by law enforcement agency personnel in any manner that is appropriate in solving the case, including, but not limited to, providing the information to other law enforcement officers and agencies and to the bureau of criminal identification and investigation for purposes of computer integration pursuant to section 2901.30 of the Revised Code.
(F) No person shall release to a parent of a student who is not the student's residential parent or to any other person, or permit a parent of a student who is not the student's residential parent or permit any other person to have access to, any information about the location of any elementary or secondary school to which a student has transferred or information that would enable the parent who is not the student's residential parent or the other person to determine the location of that elementary or secondary school, if the elementary or secondary school to which the student has transferred and that requested the records of the student under section 3313.672 of the Revised Code informs the elementary or secondary school from which the student's records are obtained that the student is under the care of a shelter for victims of domestic violence, as defined in section 3113.33 of the Revised Code.
(G) A principal or chief administrative officer of a public school, or any employee of a public school who is authorized to handle school records, shall comply with any order issued pursuant to division (D)(1) of section 2151.14 of the Revised Code, any request for records that is properly made pursuant to division (D)(3)(a) of section 2151.14 or division (A) of section 2151.141 of the Revised Code, and any determination that is made by a court pursuant to division (D)(3)(b) of section 2151.14 or division (B)(1) of section 2151.141 of the Revised Code.
(H) Notwithstanding any provision of this section, a principal of a public school, to the extent permitted by the "Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974," shall make the report required in section 3319.45 of the Revised Code that a pupil committed any violation listed in division (A) of section 3313.662 of the Revised Code on property owned or controlled by, or at an activity held under the auspices of, the board of education, regardless of whether the pupil was sixteen years of age or older. The principal is not required to obtain the consent of the pupil who is the subject of the report or the consent of the pupil's parent, guardian, or custodian before making a report pursuant to section 3319.45 of the Revised Code.

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