Law / United States / 
Wisconsin
Wisconsin pupil records confidentiality
In force.
A sensitive categories rule binding government bodies.
- Obligation class
- Access restriction
What it requires
- If you are a school board, keep all pupil records maintained by a public school confidential except as Wis. Stat. sec. 118.125(2)(a) to (q) and (2m) allow, and adopt policies to maintain that confidentiality (Wis. Stat. sec. 118.125(2)).
- Release pupil records only as those exceptions allow. Among them, make the pupil's progress records, and the portions of the behavioral records the permission names, available to the person named in the written permission of an adult pupil or the parent or guardian of a minor pupil (Wis. Stat. sec. 118.125(2)(e)), and disclose pupil records to appropriate parties in connection with an emergency only if knowledge of the information is necessary to protect the health or safety of any individual (Wis. Stat. sec. 118.125(2)(p)).
- Apart from the technical college and law enforcement disclosures in Wis. Stat. sec. 118.125(2)(j)2. and 3., disclose directory data to any person only if the school has notified the parent, legal guardian or guardian ad litem of the categories designated as directory data and allowed 14 days to object to release without prior consent (Wis. Stat. sec. 118.125(2)(j)1.).
- Give a pupil's attendance record to a law enforcement agency only on its written certification that the pupil is under investigation and that it will not further disclose the record except as s. 938.396 (1) (a) permits, and notify the pupil's parent or guardian as soon as practicable after disclosing it for a truancy investigation; give it to a fire investigator only on a written certification that the investigator will use and further disclose the record only to pursue that investigation (Wis. Stat. sec. 118.125(2)(cg) and (ch)).
- For a purpose concerning the juvenile justice system, before adjudication, disclose pupil records to a recipient the section names only on its written certification that the records will not be disclosed to any other person except as otherwise authorized by law, and, for a disclosure under par. (n)1., only under an interagency agreement (Wis. Stat. sec. 118.125(2)(n)).
- If you are a department, county department or tribal organization that receives pupil records under Wis. Stat. sec. 118.125(2)(q), do not further disclose them or any personally identifiable information in them except to an authorized person addressing the pupil's educational needs, to a court that needs them for that purpose, or in response to a court order or subpoena the paragraph names, and give the pupil's parent or guardian notice of such an order or subpoena before complying, except as 20 USC 1232g (b) (2) (B) provides (Wis. Stat. sec. 118.125(2)(q)).
- Treat a pupil record that relates to a pupil's physical health and is not a pupil physical health record as a patient health care record under ss. 146.81 to 146.84, and a record of the results of an HIV test as provided in s. 252.15 (Wis. Stat. sec. 118.125(2m)).
- Treat law enforcement unit records of juveniles in the same manner as a law enforcement agency must treat law enforcement officers' records of juveniles under s. 938.396 (1) (a) (Wis. Stat. sec. 118.125(7)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
What this law does
All pupil records maintained by a public school are confidential, except as the section's listed exceptions provide. The school board must adopt policies to maintain the confidentiality of those records. Pupil records are all records relating to individual pupils maintained by a school, and exclude a teacher's personal-use notes, records of psychological treatment and law enforcement unit records.
Directory data may be disclosed to any person if the school has notified the parent, legal guardian or guardian ad litem of the categories designated as directory data and allowed 14 days to object. On the written permission of an adult pupil, or the parent or guardian of a minor pupil, the school must make the pupil's progress records, and the portions of the behavioral records the permission names, available to the person named in it.
A school board may disclose pupil records to appropriate parties in connection with an emergency if knowledge of the information is necessary to protect the health or safety of any individual. A department, county department or tribal organization that receives pupil records to address a pupil's educational needs may not further disclose them except as the section allows.
A pupil record that relates to a pupil's physical health and is not a pupil physical health record is treated as a patient health care record, under sections 146.81 to 146.84 of the statutes.
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