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Outside counsel briefs Robbinsville board on confidentiality, FERPA, OPRA and ethics obligations
Summary
David Nash, director of legal education and national outreach, gave a training for the Robbinsville Board of Education on June 24 covering confidentiality obligations, FERPA, HIPAA, Open Public Records Act, Open Public Meetings Act and the School Ethics Act, and he illustrated common pitfalls with case examples.
The Robbinsville Board of Education received a legal briefing June 24 on confidentiality rules, public-records obligations and board ethics, including examples of conduct that state ethics officials have found to be violations.
David Nash, introduced as director of legal education and national outreach, reviewed federal and state protections that apply to board members: the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) for student records; the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for some medical information; the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA); and the Open Public Meetings Act. He also discussed the New Jersey School Ethics Act, the district Code of Ethics and “Rice” notice practices for staff whose performance or discipline may be discussed in closed session.
Nash emphasized that board authority rests with the full board acting at duly advertised meetings and cautioned against informal or “rolling” email chains that can amount to an unlawful meeting. He advised board members to refer requests for student or staff records to the superintendent or a designated district official rather than responding directly, and he warned that images of students or other seemingly innocent material may carry disclosure restrictions and should be handled through district channels.
To illustrate enforcement risks, Nash described two real-world examples he reviewed: one in which a board member emailed a parent about a teacher’s conduct while the matter was under investigation and was found by the School Ethics Commission to have violated the ethics rules; and a case where repeated private communications among board members and outside parties effectively bypassed the superintendent and produced an unlawful majority decision on tenure. Nash said such actions can undermine investigations, compromise personnel processes and expose board members to ethics complaints.
Board members asked questions and the district indicated the presentation slide deck would be made available to the public. Nash closed by encouraging members to use the superintendent and board attorney as formal channels when sensitive information is involved and to make clear when they are speaking as private citizens versus board representatives when discussing general policy matters.
