BILL REQ. #:  H-2186.1 

Read first time 02/20/2007.   Referred to Committee on Education.

     AN ACT Relating to student privacy and directory information; adding a new section to chapter 28A.230 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   It is the intent of the legislature, in the interest of student confidentiality, that school districts minimize the release of student telephone numbers and other directory information in the absence of express parental consent. The legislature finds that the nondisclosure of student telephone numbers and other directory information reduces the possibility of harassment of students and their families by organizations that received student information.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28A.230 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) By September 1, 2007, each school district shall provide separate written notice to every public high school student and his or her parent or legal guardian informing the students, parents, and guardians: (a) Of their right to request, pursuant to 20 U.S.C. Sec. 7908(a)(2), that the student's directory information not be released to recruiters without the prior written consent of the student's parent or guardian or the student; (b) that if they do not request that the student's directory information be withheld from some or all recruiters by the thirtieth day of the new school year, the school may release the student's directory information if requested to do so by a recruiter; and (c) of the obligation of all males between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five years to register with selective services within thirty days of their eighteenth birthday and information regarding how to register.
     (2) The school district shall provide the notice required by subsection (1) of this section in English and in any other languages the district provides other district-wide written notice to students, parents, or guardians.
     (3) The notice provided under subsection (1) of this section shall clearly distinguish among categories of recruiters and provide parents, guardians, and students with the option of requesting that directory information not be released to a particular category or categories of recruiters. At a minimum, the categories of recruiters shall be broken into (a) higher education and vocational education recruiters and employers and (b) military recruiters. A request that a student's information not be released to a particular category of recruiters does not prohibit a school from releasing information to recruiters in any other category.
     (4) The notice required by this section shall be sent to parents or guardians and students for each new school year. A school district shall not release directory information to any recruiter, except upon express written consent from the parent, guardian, or student, after the last day of the school year or before the forty-fifth day of the new school year.
     (5) A student, parent, or guardian may request at any time that the student's directory information not be released, and such a request shall be honored by the school district.
     (6) Each school district shall establish procedures for taking appropriate action when an individual recruiter engages in dishonest, unscrupulous, or deceptive recruiting practices or violates the school district's policies regarding recruiters on campus.
     (7) Each school district shall adopt policies and practices that provide equal access among all categories of recruiters by defining the frequency and location of recruiter contacts with students. The policies shall also clearly state what are acceptable and unacceptable recruiter practices on campus.
     (8) Each school district shall adopt policies to assure that with respect to any standardized test that is offered to students by recruiters release of individually identifiable results or individual data associated with any student shall be under the sole control of the student and/or the student's parent or guardian, who may waive the confidentiality of the results.
     (9) The superintendent of public instruction shall develop and post on its web site a model notice and request form for withholding directory information; a model notice identifying selective service obligations; and model policies that comply with the requirements of this section. The model notice and request form must provide a brief explanation of the federal requirement that student directory information be shared unless the student, parent, or guardian requests the information be withheld. School districts may adopt the model notices and request form and model policies or may develop their own forms, notices, and policies to comply with this section.
     (10) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section.
     (a) "Directory information" has the same meaning as in 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g(a)(5)(A), which states that "the term...relating to a student includes the following: the student's name, address, telephone listing, date and place of birth, major field of study, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received, and the most recent previous educational agency or institution attended by the student."
     (b) "Recruiter" means anyone who seeks to solicit a student to attend or apply to a particular educational or vocational institution or program, apply for employment with a private or public employer, or enlist in the military.