• Annual Notice to Students/Parents

    Annual Notification

    Surry County Public School division annually notifies parents and eligible students of their rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) including:

    • the right to inspect and review the student’s education records and the procedure for exercising this right;
    • the right to request amendment of the student’s education records that the parent believes to be inaccurate, misleading or in violation of the student’s privacy rights and the procedure for exercising this right;
    • the right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student’s education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent;
    • the type of information designated as directory information and the right to opt out of release of directory information;
    • that the school division releases records to other institutions that have requested the records and in which the student seeks or intends to enroll or is already enrolled so long as the disclosure is for purposes related to the student’s enrollment or transfer;
    • the right to opt out of the release of the student’s name, address, and phone number to military recruiters or institutions of higher education that request such information;
    • a specification of the criteria for determining who constitutes a school official and what constitutes a legitimate educational interest; and
    • the right to file complaints with the Family Policy Compliance Office in the United States Department of Education concerning the school division’s alleged failure to comply with FERPA.

    The parents of students in attendance (including those parents identified as having a primary or home language other than English) and eligible students in attendance (a student who has reached age 18) will be notified of their rights under the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) by publication in their child’s student handbook published/distributed within thirty (30) days of the opening of school.

    Directory Information

    The Surry County School Board notifies parents and eligible students at the beginning of each school year what information, if any, it has designated as directory information, the right to refuse to let the division designate any or all of such information as directory information, and the period of time to notify the division, in writing, that he or she does not want any or all of those types of information designated as directory information. The notice may specify that disclosure of directory information will be limited to specific parties, for specific purposes, or both. If the School Board specifies that disclosure of directory information will be so limited, the disclosures of directory information will be limited to those specified in the public notice.

    No school discloses the address, telephone number, or email address of a student pursuant to 34 C.F.R. § 99.31(a)(11) or the Virginia Freedom of Information Act unless the parent or eligible student affirmatively consents in writing to such disclosure.

    Parents and eligible students may not use the right to opt out of directory information disclosures to 1) prevent disclosure of the student’s name, identifier or institutional email address in a class in which the student is enrolled; or 2) prevent an educational agency or institution from requiring the student to wear, to display publicly or to disclose a student ID card or badge that exhibits information designated a directory information and that has been properly designated as directory information.

    Student Photographs and Video Images

    The school division and media regularly photograph and video events, activities, and success stories at school. News media coverage, as well as county and school-based publicity materials may occasionally include a student’s name, image, interview, performance, award, accomplishment, school location, or other information for use in all media including television, newspaper, radio, internet, and social media.

    If you do not want your child’s image or name used in publications or other media, you must annually complete a photo release opt out form.

    Fees for Copies of Records

    The Surry County Public Schools will not provide a parent or eligible student a copy of the student's education record unless failure to do so would effectively prevent the parent or eligible student from exercising the right to inspect and review the records.

    The fee for copies will be $1.25 per page. The actual cost of copying time and postage will be charged. The Surry County Public Schools does not charge for search and retrieval of the records. The Surry County Public Schools does not charge a fee for copying an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or for a copy of the verbatim record of a hearing conducted in accordance with the State Board of Education's Regulations Governing Special Education Programs for Children with Disabilities I Virginia.

    Unauthorized Disclosure of Electronic Records

    In cases in which electronic records containing personally identifiable information are reasonably believed to have been disclosed in violation federal or state law applicable to such information, the school division shall notify, as soon as practicable, the parent of any student affected by such disclosure, except as otherwise provided in Va. Code §§ 32.1-127.1:05 or 18.2-186.6. Such notification shall include the (i) date, estimated date, or date range of the disclosure; (ii) type of information that was or is reasonably believed to have been disclosed; and (iii) remedial measures taken or planned in response to the disclosure.

    Disclosure of Information Relating to Home Instructed Students

    Neither the superintendent nor the School Board shall disclose to the Department of Education or any other person or entity outside of the local school division information that is provided by a parent or student to satisfy the requirements of Policy LBD Home Instruction or subdivision B 1 of Va. Code § 22.1-254. Nothing in this policy prohibits the superintendent from notifying the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the number of students in the school division receiving home instruction.

    School Counseling Programs and Services

    Surry County Public Schools provides the following guidance and counseling services to all students:

    • Academic guidance which assists students and their parents to acquire knowledge of the curricula choices available to students, to plan a program of studies, to arrange and interpret academic testing and to seek postsecondary academic opportunities.
    • Career guidance which helps students to acquire information and plan action about work, jobs, apprenticeships and post-secondary educational and career opportunities.
    • Personal/social counseling which assists a student to develop an understanding of themselves, the rights and needs of others, how to resolve conflict and to define individual goals, reflecting their interests, abilities and aptitudes. Information and records of personal/social counseling will be kept confidential and separate from a student's educational records and not disclosed to third parties without prior parental consent or as otherwise provided by law. Parents may elect, by notifying their child’s school in writing, to have their child not participate in personal/social counseling.

     No student is required to participate in any counseling program to which the student's parents object.

    The guidance and counseling program does not include the use of counseling techniques which are beyond the scope of the professional certification or training of counselors, including hypnosis, or other psychotherapeutic techniques that are normally employed in medical or clinical settings and focus on mental illness or psychopathology.

    Parents are notified annually about the counseling programs which are available to their children. The notification will include the purpose and general description of the programs, information regarding ways parents may review materials to be used in guidance and counseling programs at their child's school and information about the procedures by which parents may limit their child's participation in such programs.

    Family Life Curriculum

    The Surry County School Board provides Family Life Education (FLE) based on the FLE Standards of Learning (SOL) objectives developed by the Department of Education. The SOL objectives related to dating violence and the characteristics of abusive relations are taught at least once in middle school and at least twice in high school. The high school FLE curriculum incorporates age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the prevention of dating violence, domestic abuse, sexual harassment, including sexual harassment using electronic means, and sexual violence and may include instruction that increases student awareness of the fact that consent is required before sexual activity and age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the law and meaning of consent. The FLE curriculum offered in any school incorporates age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the importance of the personal privacy and personal boundaries of other individuals and tools for a student to use to ensure that he respects the personal privacy and personal boundaries of other individuals.

    The FLE curriculum may incorporate age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the prevention, recognition, and awareness of child abduction, child abuse, child sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse.

    The School Board develops and distributes to the parents or guardians of students participating in the FLE program a summary designed to assist them in understanding the program implemented in its school division and to encourage parental guidance and involvement in the instruction of the students. Such information nreflects the curricula of the program as taught in the classroom. The following statement is included on the summary: "Parents and guardians have the right to review the family life education program offered by their school division, including written and audio-visual educational materials used in the program. Parents and guardians also have the right to excuse their child from all or part of family life education instruction."

    Sex Offender Registry Notification

    The Surry school division recognizes the danger sex offenders pose to student safety. Therefore, to protect students while they travel to and from school, attend school or are at school-related activities, each school in the Surry school division shall request electronic notification of the registration or re-registration of any sex offender in the same or contiguous zip codes as the school. Such requests and notifications shall be made according to the procedure established by the Virginia Department of State Police (State Police).

    At the beginning of each school year, the Surry County school division shall notify parents and employees of this policy. The school board will also annually notify the parent of each student enrolled in the school division of the availability of information in the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry and the location of the Internet website

    The Surry school division recognizes that it is the responsibility of local law enforcement to notify the community of potential public danger. Therefore, the division will not disseminate registry information to parents.

    Dissemination of Information about Court Proceedings

    Adjudications

    The Superintendent shall disseminate the notice of information regarding an adjudication of delinquency or conviction for an offense listed in Virginia Code 16.1-260.G. contained in a notice received pursuant to Section 16.1-305.1 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, to school personnel responsible for the management of student records and to other relevant school personnel, including, but not limited to, the principal of the school in which the student is enrolled. The principal shall further disseminate such information to licensed instructional personnel and other school personnel who (1) provide direct educational and support services to the student and (2) have a legitimate educational interest in such information.

    Petitions

    The Superintendent shall not disclose information contained in or derived from a notice of petition received pursuant to § 16.1-260 except as follows:

    • if the juvenile is not enrolled as a student in a public school in the division to which the notice was given, the Superintendent shall promptly notify the intake officer of the juvenile court in which the petition was filed and forward the notice of petition to the Superintendent of the division in which the juvenile is enrolled, if known;
    • prior to receipt of the notice of disposition, the Superintendent may disclose the fact of the filing of the petition and the nature of the offense to the principal of the school in which the student is enrolled if the division Superintendent believes that disclosure to school personnel is necessary to ensure the physical safety of the student, and other students or school personnel within the division; and
    • after the student has been taken into custody, whether or not the student has been released, the principal may further disseminate the information only to those students and school personnel having direct contact with the student and need of the information to ensure physical safety, appropriate educational placement or other educational services

    Confidentiality of HIV and Drug and Alcohol Treatment Records

    Surry County Public Schools shall comply with the confidentiality requirements of Section 32.136.1 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, providing for the confidentiality of records related to any test for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). In addition, the school division shall maintain confidentiality of drug and alcohol treatment records as required by federal and state law.

    Nondiscrimination

    Divisions must notify students, parents and others that they do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, and age. The division's Non-Discrimination Statement can be accessed from the menu at the bottom of every page of the division website as well as on all division documents. More detailed information, including contact information for our Compliance Officers and procedures, can be found in School Board policy JB.