Tom Horne, President | Arizona Department of Education
At the center of a recent discussion is the concern that local education agencies have allegedly misapplied the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) to withhold important information from parents regarding their children. The newly released federal guidance emphasizes the necessity for transparency, aligning with Arizona law (A.R.S. 1-602), which reserves all parental rights for the parent of a minor child without obstruction or interference from state institutions or any governmental entities.
Superintendent Tom Horne addressed the issue, stating, “The Secretary of Education is right to be concerned about schools that have misapplied privacy law to prevent parents from being fully informed about their children’s time at school. Misinforming parents or withholding information is an outrageous abuse of a school’s authority.”
Horne referenced specific incidents, noting, “When my department established the Empower Hotline in 2023, we learned about a spreadsheet distributed in the Catalina Foothills school district with a list of pronouns chosen by students. Students were given the option of withholding information from their parents, and I publicized this matter. In the Chandler district, a lunchtime Gay-Straight Alliance Club was created to discuss gender issues but also included the distribution of emancipation paperwork, which a parent only knew about because parents found it in their student’s backpack. Both examples are contrary to Arizona law. The new federal guidance requires schools to verify that such misapplications of federal privacy law are not permitted, and I fully support that effort.”
According to the federal guidance, schools and the Arizona department are expected to submit documentation to the U.S. Department of Education by April 30 that ensures compliance with these directives.
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