Official Letter
Official Letter
Via Email
Frank E. Miller, Jr., Acting Director
Student Privacy Policy Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Ave.,
S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20202-8520
Email:
SAOP@ed.gov
Re: The March 28, 2025 Letter to Chief State School Officers re: FERPA
Dear Mr. Miller:
On March 28, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) sent a letter to Chief State School Officers and Superintendents requesting that each state educational agency (SEA) submit “reports, information on policies and procedures, annual notifications, training materials, or other information necessary” to provide assurance that the SEA and their respective local educational agencies (LEA) are complying with the provisions of FERPA [Family Education Rights and Privacy Act] and PPRA [Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment], specifically with respect to the priority concerns previously discussed . . . [in that letter].” Those priority concerns included: (1) the parental right to inspect and review education records; (2) student safety; (3) annual notification of rights by LEAs to parents; and (4) access for military recruiters. The California Department of Education (CDE) now provides the following information in response to that request.
First and foremost, all LEAs in California, in order to receive federal funding, make the following assurance to the state:
Each grantee receiving funds under this Act understands the importance of privacy protections for students and is aware of the responsibilities of the grantee under section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (20 USC 1232g) (commonly known as the “Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974”). (20 USC §7928; PL 114-95, §8548). (See Assurance #9 at https://www.cde.ca.gov/Fg/aa/co/ca24assuranceleaplan.asp.)
The CDE has been and continues to be an active partner with ED to assist LEAs with compliance with all state and federal student privacy laws. Examples of this collaboration include our dedicated CDE Data Privacy webpage1 that features resources for educators, administrators, families, and more. Note that ED’s video Student Privacy 101: FERPA for Parents and Students2 is the first resource listed in the section on resources for families. The CDE website also features a FERPA Summary Page3 with more detailed information about parental and student rights and available resources.In addition to information featured on the CDE website, the CDE has been an active participant in ED’s own Privacy Technical Assistance Center’s (PTAC) Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) Network, ensuring that CDE staff are regularly updated on student data privacy laws and best practices. This information is shared with CDE staff and vendors through both facilitated Data Privacy Trainings4 and self-guided online trainings.
CDE’s collaboration with PTAC at the national level includes
the May 2024 Education Management Information Collaborative (EIMAC) presentation PTAC’s CPO Network: Leveraging Partners to Bolster & Sustain Privacy5 that was given collaboratively by CDE staff and PTAC staff.
Examples of the CDE’s collaboration with PTAC at the state level to assist LEAs with compliance with FERPA include but are not limited to:
- CDE’s monthly participation in PTAC-facilitated Chief Privacy Officer Network activities to remain current on student privacy laws, guidance, and best practices while collaborating with staff in other states;
- Annual attendance of PTAC-sponsored FERPA webinars;
- Annual invitations for PTAC staff to participate in the California IT Educators Conference to present on various FERPA-related topics throughout the conference. This invitation also includes a “Privacy Office Hours” table prominently placed for PTAC staff in the vendor hall so that LEAs can stop by to ask questions and learn about FERPA resources;
- Annual presentations to CDE staff that include discussion of parental rights and school official obligations under FERPA;
- A January 2025 Training on privacy policies, laws (e.g., FERPA, SOPIPA), and best practices given to field representatives from the CDE’s Multilingual Support Division6 and a September 2024 training on privacy policies, laws (e.g., FERPA, SOPIPA), and best practices given for educators in the San Joaquin Delta region of California7;
- A Psychology of a Scam8 presentation co-presented by CDE staff and PTAC staff at the 2023 California IT Educators Conference to equip educators with resources to comply with law and avoid scams. Participants were provided with tips and tools they could use to empower others in their school community (students, families, other educators) to avoid scams, know their privacy rights, and comply with law;
- A presentation at the 2020 Computer Using Educators Conference helping California educators understand how to select and use technology in compliance with student privacy laws;9 and
- A May 2018 Data Breach Simulation Exercise for LEAs in the Gold Country region of California using a template created by PTAC to help educators create a Breach Response Plan as they walk through the steps of a simulated data breach.10
In addition to collaborating with PTAC to ensure compliance with FERPA-related issues, CDE staff have been active participants in privacy-related professional learning communities such as the State Education Technology Directors Association,11 Cybersecurity & Privacy Collaborative, Computer Using Educators,12 the Future of Privacy Forum’s Student Privacy Compass13 efforts, and the National Center for Education Statistics14 which has included attending and occasionally presenting at the summer Stats-DC Conferences.
Between training and presentations, CDE’s staff monitors and maintains the privacy@cde.ca.gov email box where constituents (both LEAs and families) can submitprivacy and FERPA-related inquiries. The @cdeprivacy Instagram account15 is also used for sharing FERPA updates and resources. Special Agent Justin Lee of the Sacramento FBI Office has provided periodic presentations to CDE staff to ensure they are current on cybersecurity trends/best practices and laws such as FERPA. Per CDE policy, inclusion of privacy-related laws is a fixture of all new contract reviews, survey reviews, project intake meetings, and Contract Monitor Trainings.
As for the four priority areas listed in your March 28, 2025 letter, as mentioned above, CDE has posted guidance about FERPA at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/ed/dataprivacyferpa.asp, which in turn links to ED’s Protecting Student Privacy resources at https://studentprivacy.ed.gov, which in turn address each of these priority areas:
- Parent rights to inspect and review records, see https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/legal-basics.
- Safety of students, see https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/resources/addressing-emergencies-campus.
- Annual notification of rights, see https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/annual- notices.
- Military recruiters, see https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/faq/what-are- requirements-access-military-recruiters-high-school-students.
As for the first priority area -- the parental right to inspect and review education records we have previously discussed this topic in detail in our April 11, 2025 response to your letter dated March 27, 2025 to State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. In brief, the CDE has informed LEAs that:
- Assembly Bill (AB) 1955 does not mandate nondisclosure of a student’s gender identity;
- AB 1955 does not prohibit LEA staff from sharing any student information with parents; and
- There is no conflict between AB 1955 and parents’ rights to request to inspect and review their students’ education records under FERPA, even if such education records contain information related to a student’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.16 This lack of any conflict between AB 1955 and parental rights to inspect and review education records was confirmed recently by a federal district court.17
In further support of priority areas 1 and 3, the ED-produced FERPA 101 video mentioned above (which is featured on the CDE Data Privacy Web page and in trainings provided by the CDE) explains parental rights to inspect and correct education records and details the annual notification requirements. These rights and requirements are further discussed on the CDE’s FERPA Summary Web page, along with discussion of FERPA exceptions such as emergency situations highlighted by priority area 2. As to priority area 4, the CDE offers the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB)18 to LEAs in compliance with the State Board of Education’s (SBE’s) directive to expand college and career readiness opportunities. California Education Code Sections 49603(a) codifies requirements that military recruiters receive physical on- campus access.
The CDE continues to cultivate and maintain a robust, multi-pronged approach to supporting compliance with FERPA and other state and federal student privacy laws. The CDE looks forward to continuing to collaborate with ED to support FERPA compliance and safeguard student privacy.
Sincerely,
Signed by
Len Garfinkel, General Counsel
California Department of Education
LG:tm
1 https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/ed/dataprivacy.asp
2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhlDkS8hvMU
3 https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/ed/dataprivacyferpa.asp
4 https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1w0KHzKon6CLGu72igcdoGulpK7i2Mbz4/edit?slide=id.g265de0d89eb_1_10#slide=id.g265de0d89eb_1_10
5 https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/12_q2Ktv2TxXinh7oVVfDSg2OeM40JcztnkPFk8alWXg/edit?usp=sharing
6 https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1y9tr--9aEbIF0Eew9TnRH-U3gwRqU3DG/edit?slide=id.p1&slide=id.p1
7 https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1iNMDzC5vipMPf-9BWZb_aoqLU8QRhkg7/edit?slide=id.g265de0d89eb_1_10#slide=id.g265de0d89eb_1_10
8 https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1sJXIwplnxoREMwvBMl6JEoicS5VXWViK/edit?slide=id.p1#slide=id.p1
9 https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1g1aLOqQrMhwkAho1M9USXZSb9GjJJjCUElGIvcD6y38/edit#slide=id.p1
10 https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MHSaFNk05KMsnMKXR9fMBmcRZpVHNP3yWSWKmjZ80yE/edit#slide=id.p
13 https://studentprivacycompass.org/about/
14 https://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/edci.asp
15 https://www.instagram.com/cdeprivacy/
16 See, e.g., https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/fa/
17 Chino Valley Unified School District v. Newsom, 2025 WL 1151004 at *7 (E.D. Cal.)
18 See, e.g., https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sp/cl/asvabtestfaq.asp.