Release of 11th and 12th Grade Student Contact Information to Military Recruiters
High Schools should ONLY be giving recruiters contact information for 11th and 12th graders who are 17 or older and have not opted out. If a recruiter asks for anything more than this they are violation of Department of Defense Instruction Number 1304.24 "Use of Directory Information on Secondary School Students for Military Recruiting Purposes."
This document, issued on September 20th, 2005, states that "directory information shall only be collected and compiled by the Military Services on each student who is 17 years of age or older, or in the eleventh grade (or its equivalent) or higher, who is enrolled in a secondary school in the United States or its territories, possessions, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, unless the parent/student (18 years or older) has submitted to the school a request that such information not be released."
In addition, the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Defense issues a joint letter, signed by Rod Paige, Secretary of Education and Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, outlining the requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the National Defense Authorization Act regarding military recruiters' access to high school students' personal contact information. It states clearly that:
"In accordance with those Acts, military recruiters are entitled to receive the name, address and telephone listing of juniors and seniors in high school."
This means that schools MUST NOT release information on 9th and 10th graders to military recruiters. This will keep the school in compliance with Department of Defense policy, meet the requirements of FERPA and help to protect the privacy of younger students who may not "opt out" of the recruiter lists during their first years of high school.
You can download these documents by clickng the links at the bottom of the page.