Can a list of students health issues be distributed to teachers or other staff?
A school-wide health concerns distribution list violates FERPA and is not best practice. If individual staff or faculty members need to be informed of a student’s condition, that student requires an ECP (emergency care plan) listing symptoms to be alert for and the required response to those symptoms. It is recommended that parents, as a part of the IHP (individual health plan), participate in deciding who on staff and faculty requires identifiable health information for the child’s safety. Staff and faculty who are trusted with personally identifiable health information should receive training regarding their responsibility to safeguard that information. Nurses can ensure that confidentiality is respected by revealing only necessary health concerns and only to those individuals whose knowledge may affect the student’s health. For example, individuals who have no contact with a particular student have no need to know that student’s medical or mental health issues. Using functional impl
