Doe v City of N.Y. Dept. of Educ.

Supreme Court, New York County

Decided on March 16, 2026

Index No. 150572/2023

Ilana J. Marcus, J.

As per the Case Scheduling Order, defendant City of New York provided the school disciplinary records of the alleged assailant for an in camera inspection pursuant to the Buckley Amendment. The City provided 15 pages of documents. By letter dated February 3, 2026, the City informed the alleged assailant that they were afforded twenty (20) days from receipt of the letter to voice any objection to the release of their school disciplinary records. The alleged assailant did not object. After an in camera review of the material, this court's order is as follows:

A minor student's educational privacy rights are protected by the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), also referred to as the Buckley Amendment (see 20 USC 1232g). The statute requires withholding funds "made available under any applicable program to any educational agency or institution which has a policy or practice of permitting the release of education records . . . of students without the written consent of their parents to any individual, agency, or organization," subject to certain exceptions (see 20 USC 1232g[b][1]). A student's "education records" are defined as "records, files, documents, and other materials [*2]which contain information directly related to a student" and maintained by the educational institution or its agent (20 USC 1232g[a][4][A][i]; 34 CFR 99.3).

"FERPA's purpose is to ensure access to records relating to education for students and parents while protecting the privacy of such records from general disclosure" (Gundlach v Reinstein, 924 F. Supp. 684 [ED Pa 1996], aff'd, 114 F3d 1172 [3d Cir 1997]). However, "[t]he Buckley Amendment was intended to protect records relating to an individual student's performance, without a demonstrated need for disclosure. It does not apply to records compiled to maintain the physical security and safety of the agency or institution" (Culbert v City of New York, 254 AD2d 385 [2d Dept 1998] [internal quotation marks and citations omitted]).

The court will still consider the minor student's general privacy interests protected by FERPA when deciding what school disciplinary records are permissible to disclose. Any disclosed material must be material and necessary to the subject litigation (see id; CPLR 3101[a]). The court may consider prior reports of similar disciplinary incidents that "may be material and necessary to determine whether school officials had actual or constructive notice of similar conduct, which could constitute a basis for imposing liability" (Culbert, 254 AD2d at 388).

Here, the court conducted an in camera review of the alleged minor assailant's school disciplinary records provided by defendant City of New York. Of the fifteen (15) pages provided (not including the cover page), the last four (4) pages shall be disclosed to plaintiff.

Pages 12-13 describe behavior on October 29, 2021, or approximately seven (7) days before the date of the subject incident, that may be relevant. Consequently, those pages shall be disclosed, subject to the redaction of the names, addresses and all other identifying information of the three non-party minor students mentioned in that Occurrence Report (see Culbert, 254 AD2d 385). Pages numbered 14-15 are related to the subject incident and shall be disclosed subject to redaction of only the phone numbers of the non-party witnesses (see id. ["[a] party is generally entitled to disclosure of the names and addresses of witnesses"]; Lane v City of New York, 222 AD3d 525 [1st Dept 2023]; CPLR 3101).

Accordingly, it is hereby:

ORDERED, that the City disclose to plaintiff the pages numbered 12-15 discussed above (Occurrence Report, incident dates: 10/29/2021 and 11/5/2021) subject to redaction as set forth herein no later than April 15, 2026. The documents provided to the Court may be retrieved from chambers by the City within 30 days of this order or the documents shall be destroyed and discarded.

This constitutes the decision and order of the court.

DATE 03/16/2026

ILANA J. MARCUS, A.J.S.C.