Matthias Gafni reports on another case where a school district cited FERPA as a reason for not complying with a request to disclose information about alleged assaults on students:
In May, about a month into her investigation of molestation allegations against a Woodside Elementary School teacher, a Concord police detective hit a roadblock. A Mt. Diablo school district attorney refused to turn over a key internal report on previous abuse allegations against popular fourth- and fifth-grade teacher Joseph Martin.
The detective, as recorded in portions of a police report obtained by this newspaper, was trying to identify potential victims of Martin when she was told she would need a search warrant to get a version of the 2006 report without key information blocked out. Detective Tamra Roberts reminded Deputy District Counsel Deborah Cooksey that the district was required by law to report child abuse suspicions and the names of potential victims. Only then did the district hand over the unredacted report.
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