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Newington board receives legal briefing on FOIA, FERPA and board duties
Summary
At a Dec. 10 special meeting, attorney Jessica Ritter briefed the Newington Board of Education on members’ statutory role, confidentiality rules under FERPA, and broad FOIA obligations that can make personal emails and texts discoverable; there was no public comment and the board adjourned after the training.
Attorney Jessica Ritter of Shipman & Goodwin told the Newington Board of Education at a Dec. 10 special meeting that local school boards are "an agent of the state" and should prioritize students’ educational interests when making policy.
Ritter opened a roughly one-hour legal briefing for the board retreat, reviewing members’ core duties, limits on access to personnel files, rules for executive session and the legal risks of using personal devices for board business. "As a local board of education, you are actually deemed an agent of the state," she said, adding that the superintendent is the board’s only direct employee and that board members must rely on the superintendent to implement policy.
On student confidentiality, Ritter cited FERPA to explain that…
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