Law / United States / 
Iowa
Student surveys: parent or guardian consent before a school district requires a student to take part in a survey on protected subjects, and before an employee or contractor answers a social or emotional survey about a student
In force since .
A sensitive categories rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Consent, Disclosure, Prohibition
What it requires
- If you are an Iowa school district board, or a school that Iowa Code 256E.7 or 256F.4 binds to the section, receive the prior written consent of a student's parent or guardian before requiring the student to take part in any survey, analysis, activity or evaluation that reveals information about the student or the student's family on political affiliations or beliefs, mental or psychological problems, sexual behavior, orientation or attitudes, illegal, antisocial, self-incriminating or demeaning behavior, critical appraisals of close family members, legally recognized privileged relationships, religious practices, affiliations or beliefs, or income (other than income needed to determine eligibility), whether or not the information is personally identifiable (Iowa Code 279.79(1)).
- Before an employee or contractor answers questions about a particular student in a survey related to the student's social or emotional abilities, competencies or characteristics, give each parent or guardian detailed information on the survey, including who created it, who sponsors it, and how the information it generates is used and stored, and receive the parent's or guardian's written consent (279.79(2)).
- If you are a contractor engaged by an Iowa school district, do not answer any question about a particular student in a survey related to the student's social or emotional abilities, competencies or characteristics unless the district board has given the parent or guardian that detailed information and received written consent, except as part of developing or implementing the student's individualized education program (279.79(2), (3)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
What this law does
Section 279.79 of the Iowa Code requires the board of directors of a school district to receive the prior written consent of a student's parent or guardian before requiring the student to take part in any survey, analysis, activity or evaluation that reveals information about the student or the student's family in any of eight listed categories, whether or not the information is personally identifiable.
The categories are political affiliations or beliefs, mental or psychological problems, sexual behavior, orientation or attitudes, illegal, antisocial, self-incriminating or demeaning behavior, critical appraisals of close family members, legally recognized privileged relationships, religious practices, affiliations or beliefs, and income other than as required to determine eligibility for a program or financial assistance.
An employee of a school district, or a contractor engaged by one, may not answer any question about a particular student in a survey related to the student's social or emotional abilities, competencies or characteristics unless the board has given each parent or guardian detailed information on the survey, including who created and who sponsors it and how the information it generates is used and stored, and has received the parent's or guardian's written consent.
Subsection 2 does not prohibit an employee or contractor from answering questions about a student as part of developing or implementing the student's individualized education program. Senate File 496 also amended Iowa Code sections 256E.7 and 256F.4 so that the schools those sections govern comply with section 279.79 in the same manner as a school district. Senate File 496 enacted section 279.79 as section 15 of the Act. The Governor approved Senate File 496 on .
Section 21 of the Act gives immediate effect only to the sections enacting sections 279.82 and 279.83 and the amendment to section 280.28, subsection 3. Section 3.7(1) of the Iowa Code provides that an act of a public nature passed at a regular session of the general assembly takes effect on the first day of July following its passage, unless the act provides some other time. The Iowa Legislature's bill history for Senate File 496 lists the Act's effective dates as and .
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