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01 · Institution Type

02 · Data You Collect

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847
Schools Audited
94%
FERPA Pass Rate
48hr
Turnaround
Violation Scenarios

The violations
already happening
at your institution.

Each card shows a real violation scenario on the front. Hover or tap to see the compliant alternative. Cards escalate from common oversights to catastrophic breaches.

CommonSeriousCatastrophicTap cards to flip →
Common Oversight
FERPA §99.30

You email grade reports as unencrypted PDFs

Plain-text email attachments containing student academic records violate FERPA §99.30. Any interception exposes protected education records.

Potential Penalty

$0–$50K + loss of federal funding

See fix
Compliant Solution
FERPA §99.30 Compliant

AES-256 parent portal with role-based access

Encrypted parent portal with individual login credentials, audit log of every access event, and automatic session expiration after 15 minutes.

✓ Audit-ready documentation included

See violation
Serious Violation
COPPA §312.4

Your enrollment form collects photos without COPPA disclosure

Collecting images of students under 13 without verifiable parental consent and a clear privacy notice violates COPPA §312.4. No checkbox counts as consent.

Potential Penalty

$51,744 per violation per day

See fix
Compliant Solution
COPPA §312.4 Compliant

Tiered consent form with age-gate and FTC-approved notice

Age-gated enrollment with separate consent for each data category, written in plain language, with a direct link to your full privacy policy.

✓ Audit-ready documentation included

See violation
Serious Violation
BIPA + FERPA §99.3

Cafeteria uses fingerprint scanners without written consent

Biometric identifiers collected from minors require explicit written consent under BIPA (Illinois), CUBI (Texas), and equivalent state laws — plus FERPA notification.

Potential Penalty

$1,000–$5,000 per student per violation

See fix
Compliant Solution
BIPA + FERPA Compliant

Written biometric consent with opt-out alternative

Separate biometric consent form, PIN-code alternative for non-consenting students, annual re-consent requirement, and documented destruction schedule.

✓ Audit-ready documentation included

See violation
Catastrophic Risk
FERPA §99.31(a)(1)

Your SIS vendor accesses student data without a signed FERPA agreement

Third-party vendors with access to education records must have a current Data Processing Agreement designating them as a "school official" under FERPA §99.31(a)(1). No agreement = direct liability.

Potential Penalty

Loss of ALL federal funding + civil litigation

See fix
Compliant Solution
FERPA §99.31 Compliant

Vendor DPA with FERPA school-official designation

Executed Data Processing Agreement naming the vendor as a school official, limiting data use to educational purpose, with annual review and right-to-audit clause.

✓ Audit-ready documentation included

See violation
Catastrophic Risk
FERPA + HIPAA Overlap

Health records stored in the same system as academic records

Medical and health records maintained by a school are subject to FERPA, not HIPAA — but commingling them with academic records creates dual-liability exposure and breaks access-control requirements.

Potential Penalty

HIPAA: $100–$50K per violation

See fix
Compliant Solution
FERPA + HIPAA Segregated

Segregated health record system with separate access tiers

Health records in a HIPAA-compliant system accessible only to nurse and designated staff, with a separate FERPA-compliant SIS for academic records and no cross-system data sync.

✓ Audit-ready documentation included

See violation
Common Oversight
FERPA §99.37

Directory information published without annual opt-out notice

FERPA requires schools to notify parents annually of directory information categories and provide a reasonable opt-out window before any publication — including yearbooks and sports programs.

Potential Penalty

Complaint triggers ED investigation

See fix
Compliant Solution
FERPA §99.37 Compliant

Annual directory notice with documented opt-out tracking

Annual notice sent to all families at enrollment, 30-day opt-out window, opt-out tracking in SIS, and suppression of opted-out students from all public-facing lists.

✓ Audit-ready documentation included

See violation
Head-to-Head Comparison

DIY template
vs. professionally
audited policy.

The difference between a downloaded template and a PolicyGuard-audited policy isn't formatting — it's the 35 clauses your board doesn't know are missing.

DIY Template

Downloaded free

PolicyGuard

Professionally audited

Policy Completeness

Total FERPA clauses
8–12
47
COPPA coverage
Partial
Full §312.2–312.8
State law addendums
Biometric data clause
Third-party vendor schedule

Audit Readiness

FERPA alignment score
34/100
97/100
Annual review mechanism
Incident response procedure
ED complaint response script
Last-updated freshness
Unknown
Feb 2026

Legal Protection

Attorney-reviewed language
Plain-language parent summary
Consent form templates
Vendor DPA template
Breach notification template

Overall Verdict

34/100

FERPA Score

97/100

FERPA Score

Get a 97/100 Policy

Or download the free FERPA checklist → No account needed

Institutions We've Protected

From compliance gap
to audit-ready.

847+

Schools Audited

12,400+

Policy Clauses Reviewed

97/100

Avg. Post-Audit FERPA Score

48hr

Hour Turnaround

Our enrollment form had 11 COPPA violations we didn't know existed. PolicyGuard found them in 48 hours. We updated before our state audit.

Margaret Chen

Head of School

Westlake Academy, Austin TX

94

Post-audit score

I brought the audit report to our board meeting. The gap analysis alone justified the cost — we had zero FERPA-compliant vendor agreements.

David Okafor

IT Director

Horizon Charter Network, Chicago IL

98

Post-audit score

As a new private academy founder, I had no idea our online enrollment collected biometric data. The compliance checklist was our first real policy document.

Priya Nair

Founder & Director

Meridian Learning Center, Atlanta GA

91

Post-audit score

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