The arrest of the 14-year-old boy who was arrested in Stockton on Monday left several parents with questions about whether the student would be able to return to school.
According to the Stockton Police Department, the student attended Venture Academy and was arrested after they discovered he was planning on committing a shooting at the school.
One parent asked ABC10: “So, in this report, it says the student will no longer be allowed at this school. My concern is –how will we the parents know what school he will be attending next? I do not want him in the future to be at the same school my child attends. This is a big concern for me and would like a response.”
ABC10 reached out to the San Joaquin County Office of Education. A spokesman for the SJCOE said, “We are taking appropriate disciplinary action. Legal protections for students prohibit us from providing additional information about that action. State and federal law governing student records is clear about the confidentiality of student discipline.”
Neither school or district officials can disclose any student’s information, because of the Family Education Rights Education Privacy Act, which is the federal law that protects the privacy of student education records.
“Same as in a hospital setting,” said Don Ross, Director of Student Support and Health Services for the Elk Grove Unified School District.
“So the companion to FERPA is HIPAA. So, under the medical world, medical records and information about your medical past and what's going on with you medically is not divulged to the general population," Ross adds.
When it comes to school threats, Ross explains that that the district’s first course of action is to notify law enforcement, so that they can determine if the threat is credible.
ABC10 also talked to several other districts, and they said they all notify parents that incidents take place, but because of FERPA, they can't provide details, such as which school he or she will attend next.