Section 375.70  Release of Information

a)         Except as otherwise provided in Section 375.75 of this Part, the records of a student shall be transferred by the official records custodian of a school to another school in which the student has enrolled or intends to enroll upon the request of the official records custodian of the other school or the student, provided that the parent receives prior written notice of the nature and substance of the information to be transferred and opportunity to inspect, copy, and challenge the information to be released.

1)         If the address of the parents is unknown, notice may be served upon the official records custodian of the requesting school for transmittal to the parents.  This service shall be deemed conclusive, and ten calendar days after this service, if the parents make no objection, the records may be transferred to the requesting school.

2)         Biometric information collected pursuant to a district's policy, if any, shall not be transferred to another school district in which a student has enrolled and shall be destroyed as provided in Section 10-20.40 or 34-18.34 of the School Code, as applicable.

3)         A copy of records transmitted pursuant to this subsection (a) shall be transferred back to the sending school upon request of the sending school without parental or student notice and consent.

b)         The school shall grant access to information contained in school student records to persons authorized or required by State or federal law to gain access, provided that:

1)         The person making the request shall provide the school with appropriate identification and a copy of the statute authorizing access; and

2)         The parent receives prior written notice of the nature and substance of the information to be released and an opportunity to inspect, copy and/or challenge that information.  If this release of information relates to more than 25 students, this prior notice may be given in a local newspaper of general circulation or other publication directed generally to parents.

c)         The school shall grant access to, or release information from, school student records without parental consent or notification only in accordance with the provisions of Section 6(a) of the Act [105 ILCS 10/6(a)] and Section 10-20.40 or 34-18.34 of the School Code, where applicable.

d)         Pursuant to Section 6(a)(5) of the Act, parents of students who are named in a court order shall be deemed to have received the required written notice.  The school shall respond to the order no earlier than five school days after its receipt in order to afford parents the opportunity to review, inspect and challenge the records if the parents choose to do so.

e)         Any release of information other than specified in subsections (a) through (c) of this Section requires the prior, specific, dated, written consent of the parent designating the person to whom the records may be released, the reason for the release, and the specific records to be released.  At the time consent is requested or obtained, the school shall inform the parents of the following rights:

1)         To inspect and copy the records;

2)         To challenge the contents of the records; and

3)         To limit any consent to designated records or designated portions of information within the records.

f)         Release of information by school personnel shall conform to the requirements of Sections 10-22.3c and 34-18.6a of the School Code [105 ILCS 5/10-22.3c and 34-18.6a] and Section 5(a) of the Act, as limited by Section 5(f) of the Act.

(Source:  Amended at 36 Ill. Reg. 2220, effective January 24, 2012)