Stepparents May Have Rights to Educational Records

One question I hear from time to time is whether schools can provide educational records to stepparents.  The answer is, “Sometimes.”

Different states have different rules, but almost all public schools and any private schools that receive federal funds are governed by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The Department of Education’s regulations define a “parent” entitled to review records as including “a natural parent, a guardian, or an individual acting as a parent in the absence of a parent or a guardian.” The Department has interpreted that regulation as including stepparents who are present “on a day-to-day basis” when the child’s other biological parent “is absent from that home.”

In other words, if a stepparent is married to a parent who has custody of the child and lives in the home, and the non-custodial parent lives elsewhere, then the stepparent can access the child’s educational records. The non-custodial parent also may have rights under the custody order, in which case neither biological parent can withhold the records from each other. Similarly, a non-custodial parent cannot prevent a stepparent who lives with a child from accessing the child’s school records.

Navigating contentious custody disputes can be difficult for schools, and it’s hard to keep up with which parent and stepparent has the right to make which decisions. In the FERPA context, at least, a stepparent in the home has the same rights as the biological parent who has custody.