Sending a child to a public school does not hand over responsibility for that child. Parents remain the people answerable for a child’s health, education and welfare — and one federal law exists so they can see what the school is doing. It is called the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
The Act is written at title 20 of the United States Code, section 1232g, with its regulations at title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 99. It applies to Burbank Unified School District for a simple reason: the district receives federal education funding, and the Act follows that money.
What the law gives a parent
Where the student is under eighteen, the parent generally has the right to:
- Inspect and review the student’s education records.
- Request correction of information the parent believes is inaccurate or misleading.
- Request a formal hearing if the school refuses to amend a disputed record.
- Control many disclosures of personally identifiable information.
- Receive an annual notice explaining these rights.
- File a complaint with the Student Privacy Policy Office at the United States Department of Education.
California adds a deadline the federal law does not. Under California Education Code section 49069.7, a parent is generally entitled to inspect the child’s records within five business days of asking. That is the number worth remembering, because it turns a right into a date.
What counts as a record
Education records can include grades, attendance, disciplinary files, counseling records the school maintains, accommodation plans, assessments, emails placed in the student’s file, and records documenting services provided by school employees.
What is not covered. The Act does not necessarily reach every informal conversation, or a teacher’s private notes kept solely for that teacher’s own use. It also does not require a district to create a record that does not already exist. A parent can ask for what the district has; a parent cannot order a record into existence.
Records about a gender-related decision
This is the part parents ask about most, and it is worth being precise rather than sweeping.
On June 30, 2026 the United States Department of Education announced that it would work with the United States Department of Justice on enforcement against a single district: Kansas City, Kansas Public School District. In April 2026 the Department’s Student Privacy Policy Office had found that the district maintained policies violating the Act, among them a policy stating that school personnel “should not disclose information that may reveal a student’s transgender status or gender nonconforming presentation to others, including parents.” After the district declined the proposed resolution agreement, the Department said the two agencies would pursue enforcement measures up to judicial proceedings and the potential loss of federal funding.
That is one district in Kansas, and we are not going to describe it as more than that. What it establishes is the federal position: a district cannot maintain records about a student’s school-supported gender transition and categorically withhold them from that student’s parents.
It does not mean that every private conversation between a student and a teacher becomes an education record. It means that once a district creates or maintains records concerning names, pronouns, counseling, accommodations or support plans, the parent may have a right to inspect them.
Our position is straightforward: a district should not keep two versions of a minor student’s school experience — one for its employees and another for the parents — while refusing access to the records underneath.
What a Burbank parent can do today
Begin with documentation and a precise question, not an accusation. A written request is enough, and the wording below is a starting point a parent can copy.
Keep a copy. Ask the district to identify the person responsible for responding. If anything is withheld, ask for the reason in writing, including the specific legal exception being asserted. A district that has to name its exception in writing tends to think more carefully about whether it has one.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act is not a general right to control every classroom decision, and it does not give a parent an automatic right to sue for damages. Its main enforcement route is a complaint to the United States Department of Education.
What it does provide is a principle with real weight behind it: a school district that accepts federal funds owes parents transparency about their own children’s education records.
A form you can use
Rather than leave a parent to draft this alone, the two-page form published with our wider parents guide already carries the records request as its first item, with the law printed beside it. Tick only the boxes you want. It can be filled in on a computer and emailed, or printed and completed by hand.
The form is offered as administrative assistance only — a tidy way to put a request in writing and keep a copy. The Burbank Republican Party is not a law firm and does not practice law. If you need legal advice, consult a licensed attorney. Nothing here creates any relationship between you and this party, and no outcome is promised.
Authorities. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, title 20 of the United States Code, section 1232g; the implementing regulations at title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 99; California Education Code sections 49063 and 49069.7.
Federal enforcement. United States Department of Education press release, “U.S. Department of Education Partners with the U.S. Department of Justice to Protect Parental Rights,” June 30, 2026, describing the April 2026 finding by the Student Privacy Policy Office against Kansas City, Kansas Public School District and the June 2026 interagency agreement with the Department of Justice. Read the announcement.
General guidance. Student Privacy Policy Office, United States Department of Education. studentprivacy.ed.gov.
Related. Our broader guide, What Burbank Parents Are Entitled to See, covers curriculum inspection and the right to opt out. This page covers records only.
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