We’ve had a couple readers ask why the names of students who were recently expelled from Falls High School were not printed in the paper.

The answer is easy: The school is not legally able to provide those names under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act. This federal law has been established to provide the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive money from the U.S. Department of Education.

The law gives parents certain rights regarding their children’s education records, according to the U.S. Department of Education. And at age 18, FERPA extends those rights to the student. Among those rights are to inspect and review the student’s education records. Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent, or eligible student, to release any information from a student’s education record.

However, under FERPA, exceptions are made for several reasons, including providing information to a school to which a student is transferring, officials in connection with financial aid, and organizations conducting studies.

According to the law, schools may disclose, without consent, "directory" information such as a student's name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and awards, and dates of attendance. However, schools must tell parents and eligible students about directory information and allow parents and eligible students a reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose directory information about them.

There is also a clause that provides flexibility and deference to administrators so that they can bring into play appropriate resources when there is a threat to the health or safety of students.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, Section 99.36 makes clear that schools, educational agencies and institutions may provide information from a student’s education records to appropriate parties, including parents, when that knowledge is necessary to help protect the health or safety of a student or another person if there is a significant and verbalized threat to the health or safety of a student or another person, when all factors involved in the situation are considered.

Clearly, none of the exceptions for providing the names of the students were met and the International Falls school board was right in not providing the names to the public, including The Daily Journal.