2018 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 10 - Education and Culture
Chapter 164 - Educational Opportunities
Section 10-15b - Access of parent or guardian to student’s records. Inspection and subpoena of school or student records.
(a) Either parent or legal guardian of a minor student shall, upon written request to a local or regional board of education and within a reasonable time, be entitled to knowledge of and access to all educational, medical, or similar records maintained in such student’s cumulative record, except that no parent or legal guardian shall be entitled to information considered privileged under section 10-154a. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit a parent who is incarcerated from being entitled to knowledge of and access to all educational, medical or similar records maintained in the cumulative record of any minor student of such incarcerated parent, except that such incarcerated parent shall not be entitled to such records if (1) such information is considered privileged under section 10-154a, (2) such incarcerated parent has been convicted in this state or any other state of a violation of section 53a-70, 53a-70a, 53a-71, 53a-72a, 53a-72b or 53a-73a, or (3) such incarcerated parent is prohibited from knowledge of or access to such student’s cumulative record pursuant to a court order.
(b) The parent or legal guardian with whom the student does not primarily reside shall be provided with all school notices that are provided to the parent or legal guardian with whom the student primarily resides. Such notices shall be mailed to the parent or legal guardian requesting them at the same time they are provided to the parent or legal guardian with whom the child primarily resides. Such requests shall be effective for as long as the child remains in the school the child is attending at the time of the request.
(c) If any private or public school is served with a subpoena issued by competent authority directing the production of school or student records in connection with any proceedings in any court, the school upon which such subpoena is served may deliver such record or at its option a copy thereof to the clerk of such court. Such clerk shall give a receipt for the same, shall be responsible for the safekeeping thereof, shall not permit the same to be removed from the premises of the court and shall notify the school to call for the same when it is no longer needed for use in court. Any such record or copy so delivered to such clerk shall be sealed in an envelope which shall indicate the name of the school or student, the name of the attorney subpoenaing the same and the title of the case referred to in the subpoena. No such record or copy shall be open to inspection by any person except upon the order of a judge of the court concerned, and any such record or copy shall at all times be subject to the order of such judge. Any and all parts of any such record or copy, if not otherwise inadmissible, shall be admitted in evidence without any preliminary testimony, if there is attached thereto the certification in affidavit form of the person in charge of such records indicating that such record or copy is the original record or a copy thereof, made in the regular course of the business of the school, and that it was the regular course of such business to make such record at the time of the transactions, occurrences or events recorded therein or within a reasonable time thereafter. A subpoena directing production of such school or student records shall be served not less than eighteen hours before the time for production, provided such subpoena shall be valid if served less than eighteen hours before the time of production if written notice of intent to serve such subpoena has been delivered to the person in charge of such records not less than eighteen hours or more than two weeks before such time for production.
(P.A. 73-74; P.A. 78-218, S. 12; P.A. 85-554, S. 4, 6; P.A. 86-223; P.A. 06-115, S. 2; P.A. 07-217, S. 41; P.A. 17-68, S. 4.)
History: P.A. 78-218 substituted “board of education” for “school board”; P.A. 85-554 added Subsec. (b) establishing procedures for inspection and subpoena of school or student records; P.A. 86-223 required serving of subpoena at least 18 hours before time for production of records rather than 24 hours before as was previously required; P.A. 06-115 added new Subsec. (b) re school notices to the parent or guardian with whom the student does not primarily reside and redesignated existing Subsec. (b) as Subsec. (c), effective July 1, 2006; P.A. 07-217 made a technical change in Subsec. (c), effective July 12, 2007; P.A. 17-68 amended Subsec. (a) by adding provision re incarcerated parents, effective July 1, 2017.
