How Trellis protects student education records in compliance with federal law.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. When your school uses Trellis, we act as a "school official" with a legitimate educational interest, meaning we are bound by the same privacy obligations as your own staff.
Trellis is designed so that schools remain in full control of their student data. We provide the tools — your school determines who has access and how records are managed.
Trellis enforces role-based access control (RBAC) so that each user only sees the data they are authorized to view. Administrators can configure permissions for teachers, staff, parents, and students independently.
All access to student records is logged with timestamps, user identifiers, and action types. Schools can review audit logs at any time to verify that records are being accessed appropriately.
Trellis collects only the data necessary to provide school management services. We do not collect or store data beyond what is required for enrollment, family management, billing, and communication. Schools can request deletion of records at any time.
FERPA grants parents the right to inspect and review their child's education records. Trellis supports this through the parent portal, where parents can view their child's enrollment information, billing history, and school communications. Parents may also request corrections to inaccurate records through their school administrator.
In the unlikely event of a data breach involving student education records, Trellis will notify affected schools within 72 hours, provide a detailed incident report, assist with required notifications to parents and regulatory bodies, and implement corrective measures to prevent recurrence.
For FERPA-related questions, data processing agreements, or compliance documentation requests, please contact compliance@trellis.school.