School committee votes down policy to broaden staff access to student records; legal counsel urged parental‑consent procedure instead

The Methuen School Committee on March 10 voted against adopting a proposed policy that would have broadened staff access to student records beyond the school day and academic time. The vote on second reading was a roll call and the motion failed.

Background and counsel recommendation: Committee members reported they sought legal advice after the first read. During the follow-up, Attorney Joyce and district counsel advised that parents may not want disability, language‑status or health details shared with after‑school coaches or volunteers and that broad access language risked exposing sensitive student records. Attorney Joyce recommended a standard procedural consent form for each extracurricular activity or season, by which parents could choose what information to share with advisors or coaches rather than giving blanket access to records.

Why it matters: The proposed policy attempted to create uniform staff access to student information, but legal counsel said the district must limit access outside of instructional time and obtain parental consent when appropriate. Committee members who had initially supported the policy said the legal advice led them to change course.

Committee action and quote: Member Keegan, who had supported the policy initially, said after the legal conversation she would vote against it: “I was fully in support of this and after having a very lengthy conversation with attorney Joyce, I agree that we need to vote this down. … Please say no,” she said. The committee then took a roll‑call vote; the motion failed (0 yes, 7 no). The meeting minutes show the vote recorded by roll call as No from Member DeZaglio, Member Donovan, Member Keegan, Member Maxwell, Member Shabelia, Member Willett and Mayor Borregard (chair).

Next steps: Committee members said they will return with a proposed procedure (not a policy) requiring parental consent forms and a standardized process for sharing limited, activity‑relevant information with coaches and advisors when families opt in.

Ending: The committee closed the second read with the policy rejected by the committee; administration and counsel will draft a consent‑based procedure for extracurriculars and athletics.