PRIVACY POLICIES

Educational Records and Student Information, including Records Challenges and Directory Information

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”) affords parents and students who are 18 years of age or older (“eligible students”) certain rights with respect to the student’s education records. These rights are:

1. The right to inspect and review the student’s education records within 5 business days after the day the Charter School receives a request for access. Parents or eligible students should submit to the Charter School Principal or designee a written request that identifies the records they wish to inspect. The Charter School official will make arrangements for access and notify the parent or eligible student of the time and place where the records may be inspected.

2. The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records that the parent or eligible student believes are inaccurate, an unsubstantiated personal conclusion or inference, a conclusion or inference outside the observer’s area of competence, not based on the personal observation of a named person with the time and place of the observation noted, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student’s privacy rights under FERPA.

Parents or eligible students who wish to ask the Charter School to amend a record should write the Charter School’s Principal or designee, clearly identify the part of the record they want changed and specify why it should be changed. If the Charter School decides not to amend the record as requested by the parent or eligible student, the Charter School will notify the parent or eligible student of the decision and of their right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the parent or eligible student when notified of the right to a hearing. If the Charter School decides to amend the record as requested by the parent or eligible student, the Principal must order the correction or the removal and destruction of the information and inform the parent or eligible student of the amendment in writing.

3. The right to provide written consent before the Charter School discloses personally identifiable information (“PII”) from the student's education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.

One exception, which permits disclosure without consent, is disclosure to Charter School officials with legitimate educational interests. A Charter School official is a person employed by the Charter School as an administrator, supervisor, instructor, or support staff member (including health or medical staff and law enforcement unit personnel) or a person serving on the Charter School’s Board of Directors. A Charter School official also may include a volunteer or contractor outside of the Charter School who performs an institutional service or function for which the Charter School would otherwise use its own employees and who is under the direct control of the school with respect to the use and maintenance of PII from education records, such as an attorney, auditor, medical consultant, or therapist; a parent or student volunteering to serve on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee; or a parent, student, or other volunteer assisting another Charter School official in performing his or her tasks. A Charter School official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility.

Upon request, the Charter School discloses education records without consent to officials of another school district in which a student seeks or intends to enroll, or is already enrolled, if the disclosure is for purposes of the student’s enrollment or transfer.

Note that Charter School will not release information to third parties for immigration-enforcement purposes, except as required by law or court order.

4. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the Charter School to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the Office that administers FERPA are:

Student Privacy Policy Office

U.S. Department of Education

400 Maryland Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20202

5. The right to request that the Charter School not release student names, addresses and telephone listings to military recruiters or institutions of higher education without prior written parental consent.

FERPA permits the disclosure of PII from student’s education records, without consent of the parent or eligible student, if the disclosure meets certain conditions found in §99.31 of the FERPA regulations. Except for disclosures to Charter School officials, disclosures related to some judicial orders or lawfully issued subpoenas, disclosures of directory information, and disclosures to the parent or eligible student, §99.32 of the FERPA regulations requires the Charter School to record the disclosure. Parents and eligible students have a right to inspect and review the record of disclosures. A Charter School may disclose PII from the education records of a student without obtaining prior written consent of the parents or the eligible student to the following parties:

1. Charter School officials who have a legitimate educational interest as defined by 34 C.F.R. Part 99;

2. Other schools to which a student seeks or intends to enroll so long as the disclosure is for purposes related to the student’s enrollment or transfer. When a student transfers schools, the Charter School will mail the original or a copy of a student’s cumulative file to the receiving district or private school within ten (10) school days following the date the request is received from the public school or private school where the pupil intends to enroll. Charter School will make a reasonable attempt to notify the parent or eligible student of the request for records at his/her last known address, unless the disclosure is initiated by the parent or eligible student. Additionally, Charter School will give the parent or eligible student, upon request, a copy of the record that was disclosed and give the parent or eligible student, upon request, an opportunity for hearing;

3. Certain government officials listed in 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(b)(1) in order to carry out lawful functions;

4. Appropriate parties in connection with a student’s application for, or receipt of, financial aid if it is necessary to determine eligibility, amount of aid, conditions for aid or enforcing the terms and conditions of the aid;

5. Organizations conducting certain studies for the Charter School in accordance with 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(b)(1)(F);

6. Accrediting organizations in order to carry out their accrediting functions;

7. Parents of a dependent student as defined in section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;

8. Individuals or entities, in compliance with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena. Subject to the exceptions found in 34 C.F.R. § 99.31(a)(9)(i), reasonable effort must be made to notify the parent or eligible student of the order or subpoena in advance of compliance, so that the parent or eligible student may seek a protective order;

9. Persons who need to know in cases of health and safety emergencies;

10. State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific State law;

11. A foster family agency with jurisdiction over a currently enrolled or former student, a short-term residential treatment program staff responsible for the education or case management of a student, and a caregiver (regardless of whether the caregiver has been appointed as the pupil’s educational rights holder) who has direct responsibility for the care of the student, including a certified or licensed foster parent, an approved relative or nonrelated extended family member, or a resource family, may access the current or most recent records of grades, transcripts, attendance, discipline, and online communication on platforms established by Charter School for student and parents, and any individualized education program (“IEP”) or Section 504 plan that may have been developed or maintained by Charter School; and/or

12. A victim of an alleged perpetrator of a crime of violence or a non-forcible sex offense. The disclosure may only include final results of the disciplinary proceedings conducted by Charter School with respect to that alleged crime or offense. Charter School disclose the final results of the disciplinary proceeding, regardless of whether Charter School concluded a violation was committed.

“Directory Information” is information that is generally not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if released. Charter School may disclose the personally identifiable information that it has designated as directory information without a parent’s prior written consent. The Charter School has designated the following information as directory information:

1. Student’s name

2. Student’s address

3. Parent’s/guardian’s address

4. Telephone listing

5. Student’s electronic mail address

6. Parent’s/guardian’s electronic mail address

7. Photograph or video

8. Date and place of birth

9. Dates of attendance

10. Grade level

11. Participation in officially recognized activities and sports

12. Weight and height of members of athletic teams

13. Degrees, honors, and awards received

14. The most recent educational agency or institution attended

15. Student ID number, user ID, or other unique personal identified used to communicate in electronic systems that cannot be used to access education records without a PIN, password, etc. (A student’s social security number, in whole or in part, cannot be used for this purpose.)

If you do not want the Charter School to disclose directory information from your child’s education records without your prior written consent, you must notify the Charter School in writing at the time of enrollment or re-enrollment. Please notify the Principal at 818- 389-1184 or vgarza@galsla.org. A copy of the complete Policy is available in our Student Services Policy Manual.

RIGHTS UNDER THE PROTECTION OF PUPIL RIGHTS AMENDMENT (“PPRA”)

PPRA affords certain rights to parents of minor students with regard to surveys that ask questions of a personal nature, collection and use of information for marketing purposes, and certain non-emergency medical examinations. GALS LA will obtain written consent from parents before students are required to participate in a survey, analysis or evaluation funded in whole or in part by a program of the U.S. Department of Education that concerns one or more of the following protected areas:

1. Political affiliations

2. Mental or psychological problems embarrassing to the student or student’s family

3. Sex behavior and attitudes

4. Illegal, anti-social, 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

7. Religious practices, affiliations, or beliefs of the students or student’s parent

8. Income (other than that required by law to determine eligibility for participation in a program or for receiving financial assistance under such program.)

Upon request, parents can inspect:

1. Protected information surveys that will be administered to students

2. Instruments used to collect personal information from students for any of the above marketing, sales, or other distribution purposes

3. Instructional material used as part of the educational curriculum

These rights transfer from the parents to a student who is 18 years old or an emancipated minor under State law.

California Healthy Kids Survey

The Charter School will administer the California Healthy Kids Survey (“CHKS”) to students at grade seven whose parents or guardians provide written permission. The CHKS is an anonymous, confidential survey of school climate and safety, student wellness, and youth resiliency that enables the Charter School to collect and analyze data regarding local youth health risks and behaviors, school connectedness, school climate, protective factors, and school violence.

Surveys About Personal Beliefs

Unless you give written permission, your child will not be given any test, questionnaire, survey, or examination containing any questions about your child’s, or his/her parents’ or guardians’ personal beliefs or practices in sex, family life, morality, or religion.

GALS LA Privacy Policy

GALS LA has developed and adopted policies, in consultation with parents, regarding privacy rights, as well as arrangements to protect student privacy in the administration of protected information surveys and the collection, disclosure, or use of personal information for marketing, sales, or other distribution purposes. GALS LA will directly notify parents of these policies at least annually at the start of each school year and after any substantive changes. GALS LA will also directly notify, such as through U.S. mail or email, parents of students who are scheduled to participate in the specific activities or surveys noted below and will provide an opportunity for the parent to opt his/her child out of participation of the specific activity or survey. GALS LA will generally make this notification to parents at the beginning of the school year. For surveys and activities scheduled after the school year starts, parents will be provided reasonable notification of the planned activities and surveys and be provided an opportunity to opt their child out of such activities and surveys. Parents will also be provided an opportunity to review any pertinent surveys.

COMPLAINT POLICIES Family Concerns Resolution Process Types of Concerns Addressed by this Policy This process will be followed by GALS LA when a parent or student has concerns about School policy or decisions made by GALS LA teachers or other personnel. Complaints alleging unlawful discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying based on actual or perceived characteristics, or the School’s failure to comply with the prohibition against requiring students to pay fees, deposits or other charges for participation in educational activities, do not fall under this policy, and should instead be addressed pursuant to GALS LA’s Uniform Complaint Policy and Procedures (“UCP”) or by GALS LA’s Title IX, Harassment, Intimidation, Discrimination, and Bullying Policy which are both located in the main office and within the Student Services Policy Manual. Informal Resolution of Family Concerns Parents and students are encouraged to resolve concerns and disputes about school policy and decisions made by teachers, staff and administration in an informal manner by requesting a conference to discuss the issue. If concerns are not remedied in a manner satisfactory to the parents or student, they may elect to pursue a formal resolution of family concerns by activating the process described below. Formal Resolution of Family Concerns – Level 1 A parent or student whose concern has not been satisfactorily remedied by informal conference may file a written concern with the Principal on a GALS LA’ Family Concern Form as soon as possible after the date the student or parent first knew, or with reasonable diligence should have known, of the decision or action giving rise to the concern. The written complaint should set forth in detail the factual basis for the complaint. The Principal will investigate the complaint or will forward the Form to the appropriate administrator for investigation. If GALS LA determines that the only administrator who has authority to remedy the alleged problem is the Executive Director, the Form will be elevated to Level Two upon receipt by the Principal. The Principal or other appropriate administrator will investigate the concern as necessary. The Principal or other appropriate administrator shall use his or her best efforts to ascertain the facts relating to the complaint. Where applicable, the Principal or other appropriate administrator shall talk with the parties identified in the complaint or persons with knowledge of the particulars of the complaint to ascertain said facts and hold a conference with the student or parent within ten (10) school days after receipt of the Form