On March 20, 2025, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 14242 directing the Secretary of Education “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, [to] take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of...more
On March 28, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education issued a Dear Colleague Letter addressed to the chief officers of state educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs), reminding them that the Family...more
Back in 2017, at the dawn of the first Trump administration, there was much concern about how school leaders should address issues involving “undocumented” students including the possibility of visits by the U.S. Immigration...more
Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) generally provides access to records created by public agencies (including school districts). However, the FOIA contains an exemption from disclosure for “educational records”...more
The United States Department of Education (DOE) recently released two new guidance documents focused on student health records to remind schools of their continued obligations to protect students’ rights under the Family...more
In an effort to remind school officials of their obligations to protect student privacy, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has issued guidance on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) that focuses on the...more
Welcome to our 6th edition of The Academic Advisor - our e-newsletter focused on education law insights. In this issue, we look at a variety of topics, including a recent federal court challenge to employment options for F-1...more
The U.S. Department of Education’s Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) recently reminded school districts and schools that receive funds from the Department to review and, if necessary, revise policies, procedures, and...more
The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has issued guidance in the form of Frequently Asked Questions to assist school officials with how to protect student privacy under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA),...more
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has presented unprecedented challenges for public and private educational institutions across the country. As schools evaluate how to move forward, Husch Blackwell and our...more
On March 12, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education (“DOE”) issued a critical Frequently Asked Questions guidance document (and also established a resource page) for the education sector regarding compliance with the Family...more
The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has issued guidance to assist educators and educational institutions to ensure that students with disabilities continue to receive services mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities...more
In light of CDC recommendations regarding COVID-19, North Carolina Governor Cooper issued an executive order closing all public schools in North Carolina for two weeks, beginning Monday, March 16, 2020, through March 30,...more
The Student Privacy Policy Office of the United States Department of Education, which is the agency of the federal government that administers compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”), released...more
On December 19, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Education (ED) issued an updated version of its “Joint Guidance on the Application of the Family Educational Rights and...more
Preparations are well underway for the largest peacetime mobilization of federal resources—the decennial census. As a result of their “hard to count” student populations, as well as their obligations under federal student...more
Compliance Today (February 2020) - On December 19, the U.S. Department of Education and the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the release of the “updated joint guidance...more
On January 14, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education’s Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) issued a letter to Institutions of Higher Education to address issues that may arise as a result of the 2020 Census. (Note that this...more
As health care providers and professionals, you know that today’s regulatory environment involves multiple and sometimes overlapping frameworks that regulate and protect patient health information. Our recent Legal Alert...more
Federal Updates - The White House is expected to release its FY21 budget request on February 10. The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services released joint guidance on the application of the Family...more
On December 19, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education issued a "Joint Guidance on the Application of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Health...more
New guidance issued jointly by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services advises schools that most health information relating to students at federally-funded elementary and...more
For the first time in over a decade, the U.S. Department of Education (DoE) and the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (OCR) have released updated joint guidance addressing the...more
As discussed in a previous DBR on Data post, the U.S. Department of Education (“ED”) in recent years has repeatedly emphasized the importance of higher education institutions taking all appropriate measures to secure and...more
This summer, Pearson notified a handful of Illinois school districts that its AIMSweb 1.0 Platform had experienced a data breach that impacted over 13,000 account holders nationally. ...more