Related: Bellbrook-Sugarcreek schools fight release of shooter's records
The school district’s interpretation of the federal Family Education Right to Privacy Act, also known as FERPA, conflicts with U.S. Department of Education guidance that such privacy protections expire upon a student’s death, Yost argues in the 15-page amicus brief filed in the 2nd District Court of Appeals in Greene County.
Yost also argues that Ohio’s Student Privacy Act doesn’t provide more protection than FERPA.
Betts, who killed nine and injured 27 people in a mass shooting Aug. 4, graduated Bellbrook High School in 2013.
The Dayton Daily News and WHIO-TV, along with CNN, ABC News, The New York Times, WCPO-TV, the Cincinnati Enquirer and other news agencies, have sued the school district and Superintendent Doug Cozad, to compel the district to release Betts’ student records.
The district maintains that it needs consent from the student or parents before releasing education records.
Yost, a Republican, is a former news reporter and former county prosecutor.
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