Legal Question in Education Law in California

Either you or your attorney representative should go to the school's legal counsel and explain the situation. The court order from the family law judge looks like the usual boilerplate to me. Show the school's legal counsel the family law order. Ask the school's legal counsel why he or she doesn't think this order applies to a parent's access to her/his child's academic records, etc. Indicate that you expect immediate compliance with the order, including access to all student information, and that no delays will be acceptable. If there is not compliance, go back to the family law judge, seeking a motion ordering access. In the motion request costs, attorneys fees, sanctions, etc. Bring the school board into court to explain why they have not complied.

Mr. Harrell is mistaken as to a number of issues. Most significantly - a family law order is not binding on third parties unless they are made nominal parties to the family law proceedings, e.g., when a pension plan is brought in so that a QDRO order can be issued. He is also mistaken that there is any way to obtain attorneys fees and sanctions against a party for not complying with an order that was not issued in a proceeding in which they were a party and was not issued to that party. This questioner may or may not have rights to view her child's school records, but they most certainly do not arise out of the parenting plan between her and the child's father.

It should also be noted that she is not asking about access to the records. She is asking about a right to "communicate." This questioner has contacted me by private email and laid out a great deal of information. Included in that information is the fact that she has filed numerous police and CPS reports, all of which have been found to be unsupported. If I recall correctly, she has even been ordered by the family court to stop filing such reports. So now she has turned to the school, trying to get them to report abuse. It does not appear to be surprising that the school now refuses to "communicate" with her. She has no right to "communication."

If she shows up at the school and requests the records, I am sure they will show them to her. That is what she is entitled to. If they don't, she has a full set of rights under California Education Code section 51101. http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=edc&group=51001-52000&file=51100-51102 Those rights do not include a vague right to "communication."