Commonwealth Charter Academy Fights to Protect Student and Family Privacy Rights, Appeals Ruling of Dauphin County Court

Commonwealth Charter Academy Fights to Protect Student and Family Privacy Rights, Appeals Ruling of Dauphin County Court HARRISBURG – Commonwealth Charter Academy (CCA) today filed an appeal with the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania challenging the Feb. 6, 2024, ruling of the Court of Common Pleas of Dauphin County that would require the release of handwritten […]

03/05/2024

Commonwealth Charter Academy Fights to Protect Student and Family Privacy Rights, Appeals Ruling of Dauphin County Court

HARRISBURG – Commonwealth Charter Academy (CCA) today filed an appeal with the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania challenging the Feb. 6, 2024, ruling of the Court of Common Pleas of Dauphin County that would require the release of handwritten student and family records. The court’s order upheld the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records’ (OOR) Sept. 16, 2022, Final Determination that the records, which are protected by the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), can be made public records subject to Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law (RTKL) simply by redacting personally identifiable information. Simultaneously with the filing of the appeal, CCA released a copy of the electronic record it had offered to provide the requesters throughout the course of the appeal, and which would include all the information pertinent to the request.

The appeal stems from a May 2022 RTKL request submitted to CCA by Education Voters of PA seeking records related to a program offered by CCA, which allows students to participate in hands-on, community-based educational opportunities that complement their online education and CCA’s other in-person offerings. In response to the request, CCA provided aggregate data without releasing the actual, handwritten records. Unfortunately, the requesters were not satisfied with CCA’s response and appealed to the OOR, which concluded that the records could be made public through redaction, despite the handwritten nature of the information in the documents.

CCA issued the following statement:

“The privacy of students and families is of utmost importance to CCA. Students and families have an expectation that their school records will be protected and shielded from public view, and CCA will defend their privacy rights as mandated by federal law.

“Since the original Right-to-Know Law request was submitted, CCA has made several good-faith offers to provide the requesters with the information they are looking to obtain, including aggregate totals and spreadsheets that contain line-by-line information that is contained in the records. We are hopeful that the Commonwealth Court agrees with us and rules in favor of protecting student and family privacy.”

Editor’s note: CCA voluntarily provides a pdf of the spreadsheets that contain line-by-line information contained in the records at the following link: CCR Information