Sharing Therapy Records With Schools: What to Send and Why

The email arrives the second week of September: the school would like copies of your evaluation and progress notes for the IEP team, and a parent has already said yes. Sharing therapy records with schools sounds like paperwork. It is two decisions at once: what the law lets you release, and what will actually help the child on the other end.

Two laws, one desk

Records in your practice are protected health information under HIPAA. The moment a copy lands in a school file, it becomes an education record under FERPA. The joint guidance from the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services explains that handoff. Before it happens you need a valid written authorization, and under HHS rules a parent is generally the minor's personal representative and can sign one. HIPAA's minimum necessary standard does not apply to a disclosure the parent has authorized, but the ethics of your field still do: the BACB Ethics Code says behavior analysts never disclose confidential information without consent, and ASHA and AOTA hold the same line.

The school carries an obligation too. Under 34 CFR 300.502, an evaluation a parent shares must be considered in any decision about the child's services, and 300.305 requires the team to review information parents provide. Considered is not adopted, but it is more than filed.

Sharing therapy records with schools: five steps

1. Get the authorization in writing, specific to the school. Who is receiving, what is included, and an expiration date. A verbal yes at pickup is not a release.
2. Send a summary, not the chart. Session notes are written for you and your funder. Write one page for a teacher: current goals, present levels in plain words, what works, what does not, one recommendation.
3. Translate the goals. "Mands with two-word phrases in 4 of 5 opportunities" becomes "asks for what he needs with two words most of the time." The team acts on what it understands.
4. Ask what decision the records are for. Eligibility, goal writing, and a placement change each need different pages. The right three beat thirty.
5. Offer fifteen minutes, not just a PDF. A short call with the case manager is where your summary becomes a plan, and where you learn what the classroom sees that you do not.

The child benefits when the two systems teaching them speak the same language, the argument in school and clinic coordination, and the goal-writing piece is in parent-friendly therapy goals. Parents wondering what the school owes once records arrive can read IEP services not started.

VizyPlan was built by an autism dad and a licensed speech-language pathologist so the routine you build in session is one a family can show a teacher without a records request.

Share VizyPlan with your families so the plan you write is one the family can actually show the school. The 7-day free trial lets a family try it first. Just $6.99/month after, no credit card required upfront.

VizyPlan was built by an autism dad and a licensed speech-language pathologist who needed something that did not exist. Explore VizyPlan.