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DIRECTORY INFORMATION DISCLOSURE FOR THE ARMED FORCES, INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING OR TRADE SCHOOLS, AND/OR ALL DIRECTORY INFORMATION FOR GRADES 9, 10, 11 & 12

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a federal law, requires that the Bethlehem Area School District, with certain exceptions, obtain your written consent prior to the disclosure of personally identifiable information from your child’s education records. Directory information, which is information that is generally not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy, may be disclosed without your written consent, unless you have advised the District in writing to the contrary. The primary purpose of directory information is to allow the BASD to include this type of information from your child’s education records in certain school publications. Examples include: a playbill, showing your student’s role in a drama production; the annual yearbook; honor roll or other recognition lists; graduation programs; and sports activity sheets, such as for wrestling, showing weight and height of team members.

The BASD has designated the following information as directory information:

• Student's name
• Participation in officially recognized activities and sports
• Address
• Telephone listing
• Weight and height of members of athletic teams
• Photograph
• Degrees, honors, and awards received
• Date of birth
• Major field of study
• Dates of attendance
• Grade level
• The most recent educational agency or institution attended

Two federal laws require local school districts receiving assistance under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to provide military recruiters, upon request, with three directory information categories – names, addresses, and telephone listings – unless parents have advised the school district that they do not want their child’s information disclosed without their prior written consent. (1) 

To access the opt-out form, click to the right to download and print the form and you will have the following choices:

-Armed Forces
-Institutions of Higher Learning or Trade Schools
-All Directory Information (See paragraph one.)

If you do not want the BASD to disclose directory information from your child’s education records without your prior written consent, check “All Directory Information.” This will prohibit your child’s directory information from appearing in certain school publications.

If you do not want the BASD to disclose directory information from your child’s education records to the “Armed Forces” and/or “Institutions of Higher Learning or Trade Schools,” check the box or boxes. This will not prohibit your child from being included in the high school year book, athletic programs, etc.

All opt out options will be for your child’s entire high school career unless you the parent notify the BASD in writing.

Please return the form to the Child Accounting Office within 20 days after the student is registered in the Bethlehem Area School District. Please contact Child Accounting at 610-861-0500, extension 60273 and 60274, with any questions or concerns.

Footnotes:

1. These laws are Section 9528 of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. 7908), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-110), the education bill, and 10 U.S.C. 503, as amended by section 544, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (P. 107-107) the legislation that provides funding for the Nation’s armed forces.

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