Arroyo v. The Department of Education of The City of New York
- Edgardo Ramos
- 1:19-cv-07416
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Arroyo v. The Department of Education, Judge Ramos permanently sealed student records and directed a redacted replacement.
The order affects Reyna Arroyo, who must file a redacted version, and limits public access to Exhibit 17-3, which contains information about students.
What happened
In Arroyo v. The Department of Education of The City of New York, the defendant asked the court to seal an exhibit attached to Reyna Arroyo’s opposition to its motion to dismiss.
The exhibit was described as a letter containing minors’ names, student identification numbers, and academic records. The defendant said the information came from records Arroyo possessed through her work as a high school chemistry teacher and should not be publicly disclosed.
Judge Edgardo Ramos permanently sealed the exhibit and directed Arroyo to file a redacted version.
The detailed version
- Arroyo v. The Department of Education of The City of New York · No. 1:19-cv-07416
- Edgardo Ramos
- Feb. 12, 2020
Background
The defendant, identified as the Board of Education of the City School District of the City of New York, operating as the New York City Department of Education, asked the court to permanently seal Exhibit 17-3, which was attached to plaintiff Reyna Arroyo’s opposition to the defendant’s motion to dismiss. Arroyo was proceeding without a lawyer.
The defendant stated that the exhibit was a letter to the Special Commissioner of Investigation containing student information, including the names of minor children, student identification numbers, and academic records. It argued that the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law concerning student-record privacy, supported restricting public access to the information. The defendant also requested that Arroyo file a redacted version.
Ruling
Judge Edgardo Ramos directed the clerk to permanently seal Exhibit 17-3. The court also directed Arroyo to file a redacted version of the document. The opinion addresses the sealing request and does not rule on the underlying motion to dismiss.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.