The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) is a statute originally enacted in 1978 that provides parents with important rights regarding potentially intrusive surveys conducted by schools that receive funds from the US Dept. of Education.

Prior to 2002, the law provided rights to parents regarding only those surveys conducted in part or in whole with funds provided by the US Dept. of Education. Among other things, the act allowed parents to review survey materials in advance and opt their child out of surveys that collected information falling into seven specific categories.

The law as amended in January 2002 (the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001) has significantly strengthened the rights of parents, as follows:

• It now requires written parental consent prior to administering ED-funded surveys that include questions falling into any of the following eight categories:

  1. political affiliations or beliefs of the student or the student's parent;

  2. mental and psychological problems of the student or the student's family;

  3. sex behavior or attitudes;

  4. illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating, or 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 student or student's parent; or

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

• It now provides for the first time rights regarding surveys not funded by the US Dept. of Education. Schools are required to develop and adopt policies - in conjunction with parents - regarding the following -

  1. The right of parents to inspect, upon request, a survey created by a third party before the survey is administered or distributed by a school to students.

  2. Arrangements to protect student privacy in the event of the administration of a survey to students, including the right of parents to inspect, upon request, the survey, if the survey contains one or more of the same eight items of information noted above.

  3. The right of parents to inspect, upon request, any instructional material used as part of the educational curriculum for students.

  4. The administration of physical examinations or screenings that the school may administer to students.

  5. The collection, disclosure, or use of personal information collected from students for the purpose of marketing or selling, or otherwise providing the information to others for that purpose.

  6. The right of parents to inspect, upon request, any instrument used in the collection of information, as described in the preceding item.

• Local educational agencies (LEAs) must "directly" notify parents of these policies and, at a minimum, shall provide the notice at least annually, at the beginning of the school year. The LEA must also notify parents within a reasonable period of time if any substantive change is made to the policies.

• In the notification, the LEA shall offer an opportunity for parents to opt out of (remove their child) from participation in the following activities:

  1. Activities involving the collection, disclosure, or use of personal information collected from students for the purpose of marketing or for selling that information, or otherwise providing that information to others for that purpose. w 2.The administration of any third party (non-Department of Education funded) survey containing one or more of the above described eight items of information.

  2. Any non-emergency, invasive physical examination or screening that is: 1) required as a condition of attendance; 2) administered by the school and scheduled by the school in advance; and not necessary to protect the immediate health and safety of the student, or of other students.

• In the notification, the LEA shall notify parents the specific or approximate dates during the school year when these activities are scheduled.

Notification of parents of their rights under PPRA has apparently been required for some time--we found a 2000 PPRA document , for example, that states that "educational agencies and institutions shall give parents and students effective notice of their rights under this section."

None of the Hollis Brookline school district parents we've contacted has ever seen a PPRA notification, and it apparently hasn't happened yet this year, either, despite the new requirement calling for "direct" notification occurring "at the beginning of the school year".

Has the district in the past conducted surveys funded by the US Dept. of Education that covered information falling into the first seven categories listed above? Did they notify parents in advance and give them an opportunity to review the materials? We have no knowledge whether this has occurred, but would love to hear if anyone (student or parent) knows of such an occurrence.

In the meantime, we call on the Hollis-Brookline school district to develop the policies required by the PPRA and to notify the parents of the district of their rights as required by law--a sample PPRA notification and consent/opt-out examples have been posted on-line by the American Association of School Administrators (AASA). One excellent way to perform the notification would be to include it in a student handbook, as done here.

The PPRA is enforced by the Family Policy Compliance Office , part of the US Dept. of Education. If you have any questions on the PPRA or wish to discuss how to file a complaint (for non-notification, for example), contact the FPCO at (202) 260-3887 or by e-mail at ppra@ed.gov. More extensive information on the PPRA, including several examples of violations by schools, can be found here.

For information on other rights issues in Hollis Brookline schools, click here.

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