By Andy Sevilla
A middle school health class assignment that solicited students’ family medical histories was cancelled after a parent complained to the teacher and raised legal concerns surrounding the requested information.
A Wallace Middle School health teacher passed out medical history surveys to students as part of a lecture looking into risk factors and the effects they can have on health and lifestyle.
The survey requested parents to “please help your child answer the health questions below to help them have a better understanding about their family health history and how it can possibly affect their health and lifestyle.”
According to the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), the federal Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) prevents disclosure of personally identifiable information in a student’s education record without the consent of a parent or eligible student (aged 18 or older) unless an exception to the law’s general consent requirement applies.
All education institutions are covered under FERPA, and ASTHO has found, in its Public Health and Schools Toolkit factsheet, that personal identifiable information, student education record and student health records is information covered under the federal law.
The health class assignment required students to answer questions identifying anyone in the child’s family who suffered from a laundry list of medical conditions. The assignment further requested the name, age and the relationship to the student of anyone in the family with a medical condition listed in the survey.
“While the sentiment behind the assignment was sincere, (the teacher) didn’t think it through,” Tim Savoy, Hays CISD spokesperson said. “We canceled it as a requirement for students to turn in the form and instead will have them simply use it as a discussion point at home with their families if they wish.”
Officials said the health teacher at Wallace Middle School is new to teaching the subject, and only eighth grade students in one of the four health classes taught by that instructor were affected by the assignment.
Savoy said the teacher, in hindsight, agreed that the assignment might have been inappropriate.
The teacher’s lecture delved into risk factors, habits or characteristics, which can increase the likelihood of developing certain diseases; and in identifying which risk factors are non-modifiable, like age and gender, and which are modifiable, like smoking and diet.
Savoy said a parent called the teacher the day the medical history assignment was sent home to express concern with the information requested. Subsequently, the teacher told students in class not to turn in the assignment, and instead use it as a discussion starting point at home should their relatives wish to discuss family medical histories.
Any forms turned in by students would be shredded, Savoy said.
Hays teachers have autonomy in making class assignments, Savoy said, and while campus administrators review lesson plans, individual assignments are not always itemized in those plans.
In this case, the teacher requested parents fill out family members’ names, age and relationship to the student for anyone with arthritis, asthma, bleeding problems, cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, eye conditions, hearing problems, heart disease, high cholesterol, kidney disease, stroke, ulcer, alcoholism, drug use, obesity, smoking, or other.
After completing the survey, parents were asked to sign their name and their student’s name on the form.
“The information is important for families to talk about, but it’s too intrusive for it to be required as a class assignment,” Savoy said.
