Florida Education Association (FEA); The Notice of Petition for Declaratory Statement was published in Volume 43, No. 36, the February 22, 2017, Florida Administrative Register. The FEA posed the following questions: (1) when requested for ...

 

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT SERVICES

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Public Employees Relations Commission (Commission) has issued an order disposing of the petition for declaratory statement filed by Florida Education Association (FEA) on February 13, 2017. The following is a summary of the agency's disposition of the petition:

The Notice of Petition for Declaratory Statement was published in Volume 43, No. 36, the February 22, 2017, Florida Administrative Register. The FEA posed the following questions: (1) when requested for collective bargaining, grievance processing or other legitimate union administration purpose, what right does a public employee organization have to obtain student “directory information,” as defined in 34 C.F.R. 99.3, from a district school board in Florida? (2) when requested for collective bargaining, grievance processing or other legitimate union administration purpose, what right does a public employee organization have to obtain student “directory information,” as defined in 34 C.F.R. 99.3, from a state university or college where the union represents the students in question as members of a graduate assistant bargaining unit? The Commission stated that absent a timely objection, an educational institution is free to disclose “directory information” to an employee organization following the passage of the stated response deadline included in the notice to either the minor's parent or the student. However, an employee organization’s right to obtain “directory information” is dependent upon the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act provisions, as well as several other factors such as the relevancy of the directory information requested, whether for some demonstrable reason the directory information requested cannot be furnished, and the manner in which the party to whom the request for “directory information” is made responds to that request. These factors cannot be determined within the context of the FEA’s petition because the parties’ rights and obligations must be decided on a case-by-case basis.

A copy of the Order Disposing of the Petition for Declaratory Statement may be obtained by contacting: The Clerk, Public Employees Relations Commission, 4708 Capital Circle NW, Suite 300, Tallahassee, Florida 32303-7256

Please refer all comments to: The Clerk, Public Employees Relations Commission, 4708 Capital Circle NW, Suite 300, Tallahassee, Florida 32303-7256.