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Message: [QUOTE="Shrmdougluvr, post: 373103, member: 396"] UNC should appeal that decision. They would likely win in my opinion. I appreciate the legal analysis Crusty, and I am certainly not going to research the North Carolina statues, but must state FOIA laws (FOIA being the federal version of the legislations that states have adopted in some capacity - i.e., FOIL in NY), operate under the presumption that all public records are subject to disclosure, unless when disclosure is specifically prohibited by some exception set forth in the statute. In NY, there is a catch-all for records that "are specifically exempted from disclosure by state or federal statute," FERPA in this case. [SIZE=4][FONT=times new roman]FERPA generally provides that [COLOR=#000000]schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student's education record (including "personally identifiable information"). However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the following parties or under the following conditions (34 CFR § 99.31):[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [LIST] [*][SIZE=4][FONT=times new roman]School officials with legitimate educational interest;[/FONT][/SIZE] [*][SIZE=4][FONT=times new roman]Other schools to which a student is transferring;[/FONT][/SIZE] [*][SIZE=4][FONT=times new roman]Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes;[/FONT][/SIZE] [*][SIZE=4][FONT=times new roman]Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student;[/FONT][/SIZE] [*][SIZE=4][FONT=times new roman]Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school;[/FONT][/SIZE] [*][SIZE=4][FONT=times new roman]Accrediting organizations;[/FONT][/SIZE] [*][SIZE=4][FONT=times new roman]To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena; [/FONT][/SIZE] [*][SIZE=4][FONT=times new roman]Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies; and[/FONT][/SIZE] [*][SIZE=4][FONT=times new roman]State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific State law.[/FONT][/SIZE] [/LIST] [SIZE=4][FONT=times new roman][COLOR=#000000]The request of a local newspaper would not meet any of the conditions described above.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=4][FONT=times new roman][COLOR=#000000]All of this brings us to the issue of is the disclosure permitted if the names of the students and other obviously identifiable information is redacted. I say "obviously" because this is really the sticking point. Without having the information at hand, i have encountered situations where even redacted records were deemed to include "personally identifiable information," because the records themselves contained other info that could lead one to identify the individual to whom the record relates. Guessing here, you are talking about the transcripts for roughly 100 players. When you factor in the semesters included on the transcript, that will identify the class of the students- can't be more than 25 (25 recruits per class). Then you can look at players' majors in comparison to classes on the transcripts to further limit the number of players the records could be attributed to. [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=4][FONT=times new roman][COLOR=#000000]In the end, all of this may mean that even the redacted records contain "personally identifiable information," and therefore should/could be exempt from disclosure.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [/QUOTE]

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