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How to Opt Out of Your Child's Directory Information at School

Use the free tool — School Records Request

What Is "Directory Information"?

Directory information is a specific set of facts about a student that a school may release without asking each parent for permission first. Under FERPA it can include the student's name, address, phone number, photo, honors, and activities, according to the Student Privacy Policy Office.

Schools often use this list for things like sports rosters, honor-roll announcements, or yearbooks. You can stop it from being released.

Who Can Opt Out

A parent or guardian of a K–12 student can opt out. Both parents have equal rights to make this decision, even after a divorce, unless a court order or state law says otherwise, according to the Student Privacy Policy Office's guidance for divorced parents.

A student who is 18 or older, or attending a postsecondary school, has this right personally.

How to Opt Out

• Each school year, the school must give parents an annual notice about directory information and the right to opt out. Read that notice — it should say the school's deadline and process.
• Put your opt-out in writing. State the student's name, date of birth, grade, and school, and say clearly that you do not consent to release of directory information.
• Send it to the principal and keep a dated copy for your records.
• Florida's student-records law, Fla. Stat. 1002.22, mirrors FERPA and confirms these rights for Florida students.

What Opting Out Does — and Doesn't — Cover

Opting out stops the school from releasing directory information without your consent going forward. It does not automatically remove information already published, and it does not change how the school handles other education records, like grades, discipline files, or test scores — those follow separate rules.

This material does not say whether a school must allow an opt-out to be filed mid-year or only at the start of the year. Check your school's annual notice or ask the registrar to confirm.

If the School Releases Information After You Opted Out

Put your concern in writing to the school first. If the school does not fix it, you can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Student Privacy Policy Office within 180 days of the violation. This is free.

This is not legal advice. For a dispute the school won't resolve, talk to an advocate or attorney.

What to Do Next

The free tool below reads what you type — your child's name, school, and what you want to opt out of — and drafts the opt-out letter for you, citing FERPA and Florida law, with the principal's contact and a dated record for your files. Nothing you type is stored. Confirm your school's exact deadline and process with the registrar.

School Records Request explains FERPA and Florida student-records law in plain language; it can be wrong, and it is not legal advice. District procedures differ. Nothing you paste is stored.