FERPA???

[netmom2000]

I just have a question concerning FERPA. ( think that is what it is called.) In a nutshell, here is the situation. My husband and his ex-wife have been divorced for 4 years. We live in West Virginia, (where the divorce and custody order originated) She and their son live in North Carolina. According to the custody order, he is to be named as a parent at the school, recieve copies of report cards and any and all other notices concerning the child, notification of parent teacher conferences, etc. etc. etc.
The mother thus far has basically refused to provide my husband with any of this. When we speak to her on the phone, she says that she will send it, but as yet we have recieved nothing. (We also had to go through the school system's social worker last year just to find her and the child since she moved 6 TIMES and never gave us any addresses to reach him.) That in itself took almost 4 months to get any results because of so-called privacy laws and such.
My husband pays his support religiously every month (it goes through child advocate so it is automatically deducted from his check), and he makes every possible effort to maintain contact. I guess what I am trying to find out before I go too much longer with this and put you all to sleep is, are there any laws out there that would require the school to notify him since his ex won't??
Any answers would be greatly appreciated. THANKS!!!

 

[DennisK]

Just went through this!!!! If he has a custody order that states that he is allowed access to school records, progress reports, etc..., he needs to make a copy of it and send it to the child's school. I recommend self-addressed stamped envelopes and a letter stating that you would like to be informed of the child's progress as you would like to be involved as much as possible in your child's educational success. Had to do this in PA and the schools (2) responded quickly. Good luck!!!!