NEW POLICY GIVES SCHOOL BUS DRIVERS ACCESS TO STUDENT RECORDS

A new policy that gives school bus drivers and others who supervise students on buses access to student records was introduced on Monday night, raising some questions about the need for such a policy.
 
The policy was one of several the board reviewed on first reading Monday night. Others included new substance abuse policies for staff and an updated wellness policy that offers more detailed restrictions on nutrition in school food and support for recess.

The bus driver policy stated, in part:

School bus drivers and bus aides shall be considered under the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) to be school officials who have a legitimate educational interest to parts of a student’s record relating to transportation, without parental consent, as outlined in N.J.A.C. 6A:27-12.1(j)1.  School bus drivers and bus aides shall receive training in the use of a student’s educational records and in their responsibility to ensure the privacy of the student and his or her records.

School Board Attorney Phil Stern explained the inclusion of the records access in the updated policy, saying it allows drivers and bus staff to better help students by knowing more about their needs.

"It's important for teachers, it's important for parprofessionals, its imporant for bus drivers and anybody who is an aide on a bus to understand the students that they're serving," Stern said. "One of the things that helps with that is having access to information within student records."

Board Member Maureen Jones said, "So you're saying that the bus drivers have access to look at the student's records that are on their bus? To determine what?"

Stern stressed the records are used "only to the limited extent to make sure that whatever is needed for people riding on that bus for safe travel."

Jones asked if there is training for drivers in student behavior. Stern said yes.