Open Records Decision No. 242
May 21, 1980

	Re:  Whether student parking permit information is required to be disclosed under 
the Open Records Act.

James B. Bond, General Counsel
Texas A&M University System
318 System Building
College Station, Texas 77843

Dear Mr. Bond:

	You have requested our decision under the Open Records Act, article 6252-17a, 
V.T.C.S., as to the status of student parking permit information.  The student newspaper 
has submitted a list of parking permit numbers and has requested that the University 
furnish the corresponding names of the students to whom the numbers are assigned.

	You indicate that, although these records are maintained by the Texas A&M 
University Police Department, they are also available to other university officials.  Thus, 
they constitute “education records subject to the student access and consent requirements 
of the Buckley Amendment.”  Open Records Decision No. 205 (1978).  Section 14(e) of 
the Open Records Act provides:

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to require the release of 
information contained in education records of any educational 
agency or institution except in conformity with the provisions of the 
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as enacted by 
Section 513 of Public Law 93-380, codified as Title 20 U.S.C.A. 
Section 1232g, as amended.

	The Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act of 1974 [hereinafter called the 
Buckley Amendment] prohibits, with certain exceptions, the disclosure of any education 
record to anyone other than the student who is the subject of the record.  One exception 
is for “directory information,” which may be disclosed after compliance with federal 
notice requirements.  20 U.S.C. § 1232g(a)(5); 45 C.F.R. § 99.37(c) (1979).  “Directory 
information” is defined as

. . . the student's name, address, telephone number, date and place of 
birth, major field of study, participation in officially recognized 
activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic 
teams, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received, the most 
previous educational agency or institution attended by the student, 
and other similar information.

45 C.F.R. § 99.3 (1979) (emphasis added).  This office has heretofore accorded a broad 
meaning to the term “directory information,” holding that it includes a list of names and 
addresses of the parents of students at a particular school, Open Records Decision No. 96 
(1975), and a list of names and addresses of all former students credited with funds 
remaining in their general property deposits.  Open Records Decision No. 151 (1977).  
We have been advised by the appropriate federal agency that student parking permit 
records may properly be classified as “directory information,” as that term has been 
construed by the Secretary of Education.

	You indicate that the records at issue have “never been denoted as ‘directory 
information’ by the University.”  Although the classification of such records as directory 
information is discretionary with the institution under federal law, we believe that the 
Texas Open Records Act requires a stricter standard.  Any student record which could be 
treated as directory information under federal law must be accorded that status unless its 
release would as a matter of law constitute an invasion of any person's right of privacy.  
Such a standard, essentially the same as that of section 3(a)(14) of the Open Records Act, 
Open Records Decision No. 151 (1977), probably means that any “education record” is 
“directory information” if it could be classified as such by federal law, since it is unlikely 
that the Secretary of Education would permit the classifying as directory information of 
any record which infringed a student's right of privacy.  See Open Records Decision No. 
193 (1978).

	It is our decision that student parking permit information is not excepted from 
required public disclosure under section 3(a)(14) of the Open Records Act, and that since 
it may properly be classified as directory information under federal law, it must be so 
classified under the Texas Open Records Act.  Thus, after complying with federal 
requirements for the release of directory information under the Buckley Amendment, the 
University should make available to the public the information requested.  See Open 
Records Decision No. 196 (1978).

Very truly yours,

Mark White
Attorney General of Texas

John W. Fainter, Jr.
First Assistant Attorney General

Ted L. Hartley
Executive Assistant Attorney General

Prepared by Rick Gilpin
Assistant Attorney General

APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE

C. Robert Heath, Chairman
Susan Garrison
Rick Gilpin
Bruce Youngblood
Lonny Zwiener