Annual Notification of Rights under Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) for the 2025-26 School Year/Notice to Parents and Guardians Regarding the Disclosure of Student “Directory Information”
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a federal law, affords parents, legally emancipated students, and students over 18 years of age (“eligible students”) certain rights with respect to the student’s education records.
These rights are briefly summarized below and are explained more fully in the Board’s Student Records Policy which is on file at the school and is available upon request. You are encouraged to review the School’s Student Records Policy for a full explanation of privacy rights:
- The right to inspect and review the student’s education records within 45 days of the day the Freire Charter School Wilmington (“School”) receives a request for access. Parents or eligible students should submit to the Head of School a written request that identifies the record(s) they wish to inspect. The 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.
- The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records that the parent or eligible student believes is inaccurate or misleading. Parents or eligible students may ask the School to amend a record that they believe is inaccurate or misleading. They should write to the Head of School, clearly identify the part of the record they want changed, and specify why it is inaccurate or misleading. If the School decides not to amend the record as requested by the parent or eligible student, the School will notify the parent or eligible student of the decision and advise them of the 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.
- The right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in 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 school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official may include a person employed by the school as an administrator, supervisor, instructor, or support staff member (including health or medical staff and law unit personnel); a person serving on the Board; a person or company with whom the School has contracted to perform a special task (such as an attorney, auditor, medical consultant, or therapist); contractors, consultants, volunteers, and other outside service providers used by the school; or a parent or student serving on official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his/her tasks. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill their professional responsibility. Upon request, the School discloses education records without consent to officials of another school, school district, school system, or institution of higher learning in which a student seeks or intends to enroll. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the School to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the office that administers FERPA is:
Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue SW
Washington, D.C. 20202
Directory Information
Directory information includes information contained in the educational record of a student, which is not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed, so that it may be disclosed without prior parental consent, unless you have advised the School to the contrary in accordance with School procedures.
Directory information includes the following:
- Schools attended;
- Student’s name;
- Address;
- Telephone listing;
- Student electronic mail address;
- Photograph;
- Date of birth;
- Major field of study;
- Dates of enrollment;
- Grade level;
- Participation in officially recognized activities and sports;
- Weight and height of members of athletic teams;
- Degrees, honors, and awards received; and
- The most recent educational agency or institution attended.
The primary purpose of directory information is to allow Freire to include this type of information from your child’s education records in certain school publications, including: a playbill, showing your student’s role in a drama production; school newsletters, the annual yearbook; honor roll or other recognition lists; graduation programs; and sports activity sheets, such as for basketball, showing weight and height of team members. This information may also be made available to qualified outside organizations upon request.
Please submit any refusal with the types of information you wish removed from the list of directory information and mail your written objections on or before September 1, 2025, or two weeks after your student’s start date, to the CEO of the School at:
Freire Charter School Wilmington
201 W. 14th Street
Wilmington, DE 19801
Please note that an opt-out of directory information disclosures does not prevent the School from identifying a student by name or from disclosing a student’s electronic identifier or institutional email address in class. The right to opt out of directory information disclosures does not include a right to remain anonymous in class, and may not be used to impede routine classroom communications and interactions, whether class is held in a specified physical location or virtually through electronic communications. If you do not submit a written refusal on or before September 1, 2025 then the School may disclose directory information without your prior consent.
