Georgia FERPA and School Records: Can a Grandparent Access a Child's Records?

The Records Access Problem for Kinship Caregivers

You're raising your grandchild. The school calls about a behavior issue. You ask for the report card and the teacher hesitates — "We can only release that to a parent." The pediatrician's office says the same thing about medical records. You're doing all the parenting, but the systems treating the child won't talk to you.

This is one of the most frustrating daily realities of kinship care, and it has a legal answer. Two federal laws — FERPA for school records and HIPAA for medical records — both have provisions for non-parent caregivers. But you need the right documentation, and you need to know what to say when someone at a front desk gets it wrong.

School Records Under FERPA

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g) controls who can see a student's educational records — grades, transcripts, attendance, disciplinary records, IEP documents, and anything else in the student's school file.

FERPA grants access to a "parent," but the federal definition of parent is broader than the biological one. It includes any individual acting as a parent in the absence of a parent — which means a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or other relative who has assumed day-to-day responsibility for the child.

If you've enrolled the child using a Kinship Caregiver Affidavit (O.C.G.A. § 20-1-18) or a Minor Power of Attorney (O.C.G.A. § 19-9-120), the school already has formal documentation that you're acting in the place of a parent. That documentation gives you full FERPA rights:

• Access to all educational records
• Receiving report cards and progress reports
• Attending and participating in parent-teacher conferences
• Reviewing and signing IEP or 504 plan documents
• Granting consent for release of records to third parties

One important detail: the biological parent doesn't lose access. Under FERPA, both the legal parent and the person acting as parent have concurrent record access rights — unless a court order specifically restricts the parent's rights. If a parent calls the school and asks for the child's report card, the school must provide it, even while you hold a Kinship Caregiver Affidavit.

Medical Records Under HIPAA

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA, 45 C.F.R. § 164.502(g)) has its own framework for non-parent access. Under HIPAA, you qualify as the child's "Personal Representative" if state law grants you authority to consent to medical care on the child's behalf.

A Georgia Minor POA under O.C.G.A. § 19-9-129 gives you medical consent authority within the scope it delegates, which makes you a Personal Representative under HIPAA. A Kinship Caregiver Affidavit gives you authority over medical care directly related to school enrollment and academic activities (entry physicals, immunizations, sports physicals), so any Personal Representative access under that affidavit is limited to that scope.

As a HIPAA Personal Representative, you have the right to:

• Request and receive the child's medical records within the scope of your authority
• Communicate with doctors, dentists, and specialists about care within that scope
• Authorize release of related medical records to schools, insurers, or other providers
• Request independent patient portal access for information within that scope

A common problem: some medical offices have a parent's login credentials set up for the patient portal and refuse to create separate access for the caregiver. Under HIPAA, providers must give you independent proxy access to information within the scope of your personal-representative authority. They cannot force you to share the parent's login or deny you in-scope portal access because the parent's account already exists.

When Someone Says No

If a school secretary, medical office, or hospital records department refuses to give you access, here's what to do:

For school records:

1. Present your Kinship Caregiver Affidavit or Minor POA
2. Explain that under FERPA, a person acting in loco parentis has the same record access rights as a parent
3. Ask for the Student Services Director or school principal
4. If the issue continues, file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Student Privacy Policy Office

For medical records:

1. Present your Minor POA or Kinship Caregiver Affidavit
2. Explain that under HIPAA, a person authorized by state law to consent to treatment is the child's Personal Representative
3. Ask for the facility's Patient Advocate or Privacy Officer
4. If the issue persists, file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights

In practice, most refusals happen at the front desk from staff who simply don't encounter kinship caregivers often enough to know the rules. Escalating to a supervisor or compliance officer usually resolves it within the same visit.

Getting Organized Before You Go

The smoother way to handle records access is to set it up proactively rather than fighting for it each time:

• When you enroll the child at school, ask the registrar to add you to the student information system as the primary contact and educational decision-maker
• At the first pediatrician visit, ask the office to create a caregiver profile in their system with your contact information and a copy of your legal instrument on file
• Provide a copy of your POA or affidavit to every provider — pediatrician, dentist, therapist, specialist — so it's already in the chart when questions arise

The Georgia School and Medical Consent Guide includes a records access checklist and the specific language to use with schools and medical offices so you can establish access once and avoid repeated confrontations.

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