Annual Notice to Students/Parents

Parents will be notified of their rights under the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) annually by publication in their child’s student handbook published/distributed within thirty (30) days of the opening of school.

The school division shall notify, at least annually, the parents of students in attendance (including those parents identified as having a primary or home language other than English) and eligible students in attendance (a student who has reached age 18) by such means as are reasonably likely to inform them of their rights as follows:

  • the types and location of education records and information maintained therein;
  • the title and address of the school official responsible for the maintenance of education records;
  • the parties to whom data may be disclosed, and the purpose for disclosure;
  • the fact that transfer of a scholastic record upon request by another school division will be made without written notice being provided to the student or the student’s parent or guardian;
  • policies and procedures for reviewing and expunging education records;
  • policies and procedures for disclosure of data from education records;
  • the rights of parents and eligible students to review and challenge the content of education records and to file with the FERPA Office a complaint concerning an alleged failure by the school division to comply with 20 U.S.C. 1232g;
  • the fee as established in this policy to the parent or eligible student for reproducing copies of education records;
  • the data designated in this policy as directory information;
  • the right of parents and eligible students to obtain, upon request, a copy of the school division written policies and procedures on the management of the education records and the location of these records, and;
  • Virginia School Quality Profiles

Directory Information

The Dinwiddie County Public Schools shall notify parents and eligible students at the beginning of each school year what information, if any, Dinwiddie County Public School division has designated as directory information, the right to refuse to let the division designate any or all of such information as directory information and the period of time to refuse, in writing, the directory information designation in accordance with FERPA.

Directory information includes the name, address, date and place of birth of students, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, the weight and height of members of athletics teams, dates of attendance and degrees, honors or awards received by students, telephone listing, electronic mail address, photograph, major field of study, grade level, and the most recent educational agency or institution attended.

Upon request, military recruiters may be provided Directory Information including names, addresses, and telephone listings unless parents advise the school division that they do not want this information disclosed without prior written consent.

If you do not want Dinwiddie County Public Schools to disclose Directory Information from your child’s education records without prior written consent, you must notify the district in writing within thirty (30) days of enrollment.

Student Photographs and Video Images

The school division and media regularly photograph and video events, activities, and success stories at school. News media coverage, as well as county and school-based publicity materials may occasionally include a student’s name, image, interview, performance, award, accomplishment, school location, or other information for use in all media including television, newspaper, radio, internet, and social media.

If you do not want your child’s image or name used in publications or other media, you must annually notify the school principal in writing within the first month of school.

Fees for Copies of Records

The fee for copies will be fifteen cents (.15¢) per page. The actual cost of copying time and postage will be charged. The Dinwiddie County Public Schools shall not charge for search and retrieval of the records. The Dinwiddie County Public Schools shall not charge a fee for copying an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or for a copy of the verbatim record of a hearing conducted in accordance with the State Board of Education’s Regulations Governing Special Education Programs for Children with Disabilities in Virginia.

Unauthorized Disclosure of Electronic Records

In cases in which electronic records containing personally identifiable information are reasonably believed to have been disclosed in violation federal or state law applicable to such information, the school division shall notify, as soon as practicable, the parent of any student affected by such disclosure, except as otherwise provided in Va. Code §§ 32.1-127.1:05 or 18.2-186.6. Such notification shall include the

(i) date, estimated date, or date range of the disclosure;
(ii) type of information that was or is reasonably believed to have been disclosed; and
(iii) remedial measures taken or planned in response to the disclosure.

Disclosure of Information Relating to Home Instructed Students

Neither the superintendent nor the School Board shall disclose to the Department of Education or any other person or entity outside of the local school division information that is provided by a parent or student to satisfy the requirements of Policy LBD Home Instruction or subdivision B 1 of Va. Code § 22.1-254. Nothing in this policy prohibits the superintendent from notifying the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the number of students in the school division receiving home instruction.

School Counseling Programs and Services

The Dinwiddie County School Board recognizes that parents are the student’s first teachers and that the school should serve to strengthen family and parental support. No student will be required to participate in a counseling program to which the student’s parents object. To review materials or discuss the program, please contact the counselor in your child’s school.

For the purposes of this policy, the following definitions apply:

  1. Academic Guidance – Guidance which assists students and their parents to acquire knowledge of the curricula choices available to students, to plan a program of studies, to arrange and interpret academic testing, and to seek post-secondary academic opportunities.
  2. Career Guidance – Guidance which helps students to acquire information and plan action about work, jobs, apprenticeships, and post-secondary educational and career opportunities.
  3. Personal/Social Counseling – Counseling which assists a student in developing an understanding of themselves and the rights and needs of others. Personal/social counseling also assists students in resolving in conflict and defining individual goals that reflect their interests, abilities and aptitudes. Such counseling may be provided either: in groups in which generic issues of social development are addressed or; through structured individual or small group multi-session counseling, which focuses on the specific concerns of the participant(s).

At least annually, parents shall be notified in writing about the academic and career guidance programs and the personal/social counseling programs, which are available to students within the school division. Parents will be advised concerning the purpose, general description of the programs, how parents may review materials to be used in the programs, and procedures by which parents may limit the students’ participation in the program. Information and records of personal/social counseling shall be kept confidential and separate and not disclosed to third parties without prior parental consent or as otherwise provided by law.

It is the policy of the Dinwiddie County School Board with respect to personal/social counseling that parents will notify the school division in writing if the student is not to participate in the personal/social counseling program. (Opt-Out of Personal/Social Counseling Program)

Counseling techniques that are beyond the scope of the professional certification or training of counselors, including hypnosis, or other psychotherapeutic techniques that are normally employed in medical or clinical settings and focus on mental illness or psychopathology, are prohibited.

Career and Technical Education

The Dinwiddie County Public School Division’s Department of Career and Technical Education offers a variety of career and technical program to all students at the middle and high school levels.  The program areas include the following:

  • Agriculture Education
  • Business and Information Technology
  • Career Connections
  • Family and Consumer Sciences
  • Health and Medical Sciences
  • Marketing
  • Technology Education
  • Trade and Industrial Education

For more information about Career and Technical Education, call 804-469-4190.

The Dinwiddie School Board is committed to nondiscrimination in regards to sex, gender, race, color, national origin, disability, religion, ancestry, age, marital status, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by law. This commitment prevails in all of its policies and practices concerning staff, students, educational programs and services, and individuals with whom the Board does business.

The School Board and staff shall promote good human relations by prohibiting discrimination in employment, and in personnel matters; in location and use of facilities; in educational offerings and instructional materials.

Individuals holding the following positions have been designated to handle inquiries regarding nondiscrimination policies:

1. Specific complaints of alleged discrimination against personnel, including Title II (disability, including Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act), Title VI (race, color, or national origin), or IX (sex):

Emily Branch
Chief Human Resources Officer
Dinwiddie County Public Schools
4016 Boydton Plank Rd.
Dinwiddie, VA 23841
804-469-4190

2. Specific complaints of alleged discrimination or harassment against students based on race, color, or national origin, religion, or a disability, including matters under Title IX (sex), Title II (including Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act), or any other characteristic protected by law:

Dr. Amanda Clay
Chief Academic Officer
Dinwiddie County Public Schools
4016 Boydton Plank Rd.
Dinwiddie, VA 23841
804-469-4190

Family Life Curriculum

The Dinwiddie County Public School Board provides Family Life Education (FLE) based on the FLE Standards of Learning Objectives developed by the Department of Education.

Provides (SB 906) that any family life education curriculum offered by a local school division shall require the Standards of Learning objectives related to dating violence and the characteristics of abusive relationships to be taught at least once during middle school and at least twice during high school.

Grade level strands will be sent home annually. It is the policy of the Dinwiddie County School Board, with respect to Family Life Education, parents and guardians have the right to review the family life education program offered by their school division, including written and audio-visual educational materials used in the program. Parents and guardians also have the right to excuse their child from all or part of family life education instruction. Parents/guardians will notify the school division in writing if the student is not to participate in the program. (Opt-Out of Family Life Curriculum)

Sex Offender Registry Notification

The Dinwiddie school division recognizes the danger sex offenders pose to student safety. Therefore, to protect students while they travel to and from school, attend school or are at school-related activities, each school in the Dinwiddie school division shall request electronic notification of the registration or re-registration of any sex offender in the same or contiguous zip codes as the school. Such requests and notifications shall be made according to the procedure established by the Virginia Department of State Police (State Police).

The Dinwiddie school division shall notify parents and employees of this policy. The school board will also annually notify the parent of each student enrolled in the school division of the availability of information in the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry and the location of the Internet website.

The Dinwiddie school division recognizes that it is the responsibility of local law enforcement to notify the community of potential public danger. Therefore, the division will not disseminate registry information to parents.

Requests for Registry Information: Anyone requesting registry information from the school division shall be referred to the State Police.

Dissemination of Information about Court Proceedings

Adjudications

The Superintendent shall disseminate the notice of information regarding an adjudication of delinquency or conviction for an offense listed in Virginia Code 16.1-260.G. contained in a notice received pursuant to Section 16.1-305.1 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, to school personnel responsible for the management of student records and to other relevant school personnel, including, but not limited to, the principal of the school in which the student is enrolled. The principal shall further disseminate such information to licensed instructional personnel and other school personnel who (1) provide direct educational and support services to the student and (2) have a legitimate educational interest in such information.

Petitions

The Superintendent shall not disclose information contained in or derived from a notice of petition received pursuant to § 16.1-260 except as follows:

  • if the juvenile is not enrolled as a student in a public school in the division to which the notice was given, the Superintendent shall promptly notify the intake officer of the juvenile court in which the petition was filed and forward the notice of petition to the Superintendent of the division in which the juvenile is enrolled, if known;
  • prior to receipt of the notice of disposition, the Superintendent may disclose the fact of the filing of the petition and the nature of the offense to the principal of the school in which the student is enrolled if the division Superintendent believes that disclosure to school personnel is necessary to ensure the physical safety of the student, and other students or school personnel within the division; and
  • after the student has been taken into custody, whether or not the student has been released, the principal may further disseminate the information only to those students and school personnel having direct contact with the student and need of the information to ensure physical safety, appropriate educational placement or other educational services

Confidentiality of HIV and Drug and Alcohol Treatment Records

Dinwiddie County Public Schools shall comply with the confidentiality requirements of Section 32.136.1 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, providing for the confidentiality of records related to any test for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). In addition, the school division shall maintain confidentiality of drug and alcohol treatment records as required by federal and state law.

Protection of Pupil Rights

For any survey, analysis, or evaluation instrument sponsored or funded by the U.S. Department of Education, students may participate only after prior written consent is obtained from the parent. Rather than provide such consent, parents have the option of “opting out” their child from such participation by making such a request in writing to their child’s principal.

Parents also have the option of “opting out” their child from participation in other student surveys, analysis, or evaluations by making such a request in writing to their child’s principal.

Parents and eligible students have the right to inspect any survey dealing with the above topics, regardless of funding source, and to opt the student out of participation by making such a request in writing to their child’s principal.

The Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA)

The following information is applicable to parents of students attending Title I schools only.

Right to Request Information on Teacher Qualifications

Please be advised this notification applies only to parents of identified Title I students. Title I parents have the right to know the professional qualifications of the classroom teachers who instruct your child. Federal law allows you to ask for certain information about your child’s classroom teachers, and requires us to give you this information in a timely manner if you ask for it. Specifically, you have the right to ask for the following about each of your child’s classroom teachers:

  • Whether the Virginia Department of Education has licensed or qualified the teacher for the grades and subjects he or she teaches.
  • Whether the Virginia Department of Education has decided that the teacher can teach in a classroom without being licensed or qualified under state regulations because of special circumstances.
  • The teacher’s college major, whether the teacher has any advanced degrees and, if so, the subject of the degrees.
  • Whether any teacher’s aides or similar paraprofessional provide services to your child and, if they do, their qualifications

If you would like to receive any of this information, please contact the school principal.

Assignment of Teacher for More than Four Weeks not Meeting Certification/Licensure Requirements

School divisions are required to send notification to parents in Title I schools if their child is assigned a teacher for four or more consecutive weeks by a teacher who does not meet applicable state certification or licensure requirements at the grade level and subject area in which the teacher has been assigned. Dinwiddie Public Schools handles all such notifications on an individual student basis, when applicable.

Parental Notification of Assessment Opt Out Policies

On December 10, 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA) was signed into law. Section 1112(e)(2) of ESSA states that parents of students in Title I schools have a right to know about state or division policies regarding student participation in any assessments mandated by ESSA, including any policy, procedure, or parental right to opt students out of such assessments. If you would like to receive information about this topic, please contact the Director of Assessment and Student Services for more information.

All students enrolled in Virginia public schools are expected to take the applicable state tests. The Virginia Board of Education Regulations Establishing Standards for Accrediting Public Schools in Virginia state:

“In kindergarten through eighth grade, where the administration of Virginia assessment program tests are required by the Board of Education, each student shall be expected to take the tests” and “each student in middle and secondary schools shall take all applicable end-of-course SOL tests following course instruction” (8VAC20-131-30).

The Virginia regulations do not provide for what is sometimes referred to as an “opt out policy” for students regarding the Virginia assessments. If parents refuse to have their student participate in one or more of the required Virginia assessments, they should be aware that their student’s state assessment score report will reflect a score of “0” for any test that is refused.