EdLaw
Indiana — student records (IC 20-33-7, IC 20-19-3-9.4)
Indiana's student-records provisions: what an education record is, the equal access a custodial and a non-custodial parent have to it, the two routes by which a school may disclose records without parental consent — to a juvenile justice agency before adjudication, and in a health or safety emergency — the limits on searching a student's property, and the student test number by which the department tracks enrolment and identifies military-connected students.
Indiana has no SOPIPA-style operator statute. This chapter, sitting on top of FERPA, is the student-privacy layer; see the README for how Indiana's comprehensive privacy act relates to it.
IC §20-33-7-1. "Education records"
Sec. 1. As used in this chapter, "education records" means information that:
- (1) is recorded by a nonpublic or public school; and
- (2) concerns a student who is or was enrolled in the school.
[Pre-2005 Elementary and Secondary Education Recodification Citation: 20-10.1-22.4-1.]
IC §20-33-7-2. Custodial and noncustodial parents; equal access; exceptions
Sec. 2. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), a nonpublic or public school must allow a custodial parent and a noncustodial parent of a child the same access to their child's education records.
(b) A nonpublic or public school may not allow a noncustodial parent access to the child's education records if:
- (1) a court has issued an order that limits the noncustodial parent's access to the child's education records; and
- (2) the school has received a copy of the court order or has actual knowledge of the court order.
[Pre-2005 Elementary and Secondary Education Recodification Citation: 20-10.1-22.4-2.]
IC §20-33-7-3. Report of educational records without parental consent
Sec. 3. (a) As used in this section, "juvenile justice agency" has the meaning set forth in IC 10-13-4-5.
(b) A school corporation or other entity to which the education records privacy provisions of the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g) apply may disclose or report on the education records of a child, including personally identifiable information contained in the education records, without the consent of the child's parent under the following conditions:
- (1) The disclosure or reporting of education records is to a state or local juvenile justice agency.
- (2) The disclosure or reporting relates to the ability of the juvenile justice system to serve, before adjudication, the student whose records are being released.
- (3) The juvenile justice agency receiving the information certifies, in writing, to the entity providing the information that the agency or individual receiving the information has agreed not to disclose it to a third party, other than another juvenile justice agency, without the consent of the child's parent.
(c) For purposes of subsection (b)(2), a disclosure or reporting of education records concerning a child who has been adjudicated as a delinquent child shall be treated as related to the ability of the juvenile justice system to serve the child before adjudication if the juvenile justice agency seeking the information provides sufficient information to enable the keeper of the education records to determine that the juvenile justice agency seeks the information in order to identify and intervene with the child as a juvenile at risk of delinquency rather than to obtain information solely related to supervision of the child as an adjudicated delinquent child.
(d) A school corporation to which the education records privacy provisions of the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g) apply may disclose or report on the education records of a child, including personally identifiable information contained in the education records, without the consent of the child's parent, if the child has been suspended or expelled and referred to a court in accordance with an agreement for court assisted resolution of suspension and expulsion cases under IC 20-33-8.5. The request for the education records of a child by a court must be for the purpose of assisting the child before adjudication.
(e) A school corporation or other entity to which the education records privacy provisions of the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g) apply that:
- (1) discloses or reports on the education records of a child, including personally identifiable information contained in the education records, in violation of this section; and
- (2) makes a good faith effort to comply with this section;
is immune from civil liability.
[Pre-2005 Elementary and Secondary Education Recodification Citation: 20-10.1-22.4-3.]
IC §20-33-7-4. Report of records without parental consent; health or safety emergency
Sec. 4. (a) As used in this section, "appropriate officials" include local or state law enforcement officials, department of child services officials, trained medical personnel, and school administrators whose knowledge of information described in subsection (b) or (d) is necessary to protect the health or safety of students or other persons on school corporation property. The term "school administrator" includes a principal, an assistant principal, a superintendent, and an assistant superintendent.
(b) A school corporation or other entity to which the education records privacy provisions of the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g) apply may disclose or report on the education records of a child, including personally identifiable information contained in the education records, without the consent of the child's parent to appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies as determined by school officials.
(c) A school corporation or other entity to which the education records privacy provisions of the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g) apply that:
- (1) discloses or reports on the education records of a child, including personally identifiable information contained in the education records, in violation of this section; and
- (2) makes a good faith effort to comply with this section;
is immune from civil liability.
(d) In the case of a health or safety emergency, a law enforcement officer shall disclose or report a child's personally identifiable information contained in law enforcement records to a school corporation or an appropriate official.
(e) Information concerning any suspicious activity or potential criminal activity related to a child that is shared between a law enforcement officer and a school corporation or an appropriate official under this section shall not be stored or maintained in any type of data base.
IC §20-33-7-5. Student property
Sec. 5. (a) As used in this section, "student property" refers to property belonging to a student that the student has stored in a locker, desk, or personal cubby that is located on school property and has been assigned to the student for the student's use.
- (1) died; or
- (2) transferred, dropped out, or otherwise withdrawn from enrollment in the school corporation for any reason;
the school corporation may not remove the student's property without providing the student's parent with the opportunity to collect the student's property.
(c) Nothing in this section restricts or otherwise limits the authority of a law enforcement agency to:
pursuant to a law enforcement investigation.
IC §20-19-3-9.4. Disclosure of student test number information
Sec. 9.4. (a) Beginning January 1, 2010, the department may obtain and maintain student test number information in a manner and form that permits any person who is authorized to review the information to:
- (1) access the information at any time; and
- (2) accurately determine:
- (A) where each student is enrolled and attending classes; and
- (B) the number of students enrolled in a school corporation or charter school and residing in the area served by a school corporation; as of any date after December 31, 2009, occurring before two (2) regular instructional days before the date of the inquiry.
Each school corporation and charter school shall provide the information to the department in the form and on a schedule that permits the department to comply with this section. The department shall provide technical assistance to school corporations and charter schools to assist school corporations and charter schools in complying with this section.
(b) Beginning with the 2015-2016 school year, each school corporation and charter school shall annually:
- (1) determine, on a form prescribed by the department, whether a student who attends an adult high school (as defined under IC 20-24-1-2.3) or a student's parent or a member of the same household is a member of:
- (2) provide to the department a list of the students who have been identified under subdivision (1).
The information collected by a school corporation or charter school under subdivision (1) is considered confidential and shall be collected by the school corporation or charter school under guidelines for maintaining confidentiality established by the department. The department shall assign each student identified under subdivision (1) a unique identifier, which may be a modification of the student's test number assigned under subsection (a), by which data concerning military connected students may be disaggregated, including information concerning attendance records and academic progress.
Related
- FERPA — the federal regime IC 20-33-7-3 and 20-33-7-4 carve exceptions out of
- Illinois SOPPA — the operator-duty regime Indiana does not have
- Texas TDPSA — the comparator for a comprehensive act whose FERPA exemption is data-level, as Indiana's IC 24-15 is
- Oklahoma Student DATA Act — the other state here reached through its legislature's own PDFs
Sources
- Indiana Code 2026 — Title 20, Article 33, Chapter 7 (Parental Access to Student Records and Property) — SHA-256
da7e205294568c195614388a9a052655b68cb2060af8809c1ff05ee122c22aa4 - Indiana Code 2026 — Title 20, Article 19, Chapter 3 (Department of Education) — SHA-256
b6fa7f86a52ec0944b743b396cfb493f08a77acff606f9ec7ea8dcd30c4fa250