Dismantling a Dual-Headed System of Governance: How a Regulatory Overlap Undercuts the Security of Student Health Information in Public Schools

This article argues that regulating student health information through two separate federal statutes further monitored by two separate administrative agencies does little to either protect the privacy of student health information or ensure that this information is used to address student medical needs. This Article explains the inefficiencies created by this system of protecting student health information and argues that simplification of the system will have far – reaching advantages for all stakeholders in the field of public education. Among such advantages is an increase in campus safety: simplification of this dual-headed system of governance will empower education stakeholders to avoid schoolhouse tragedies such as the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech, which is commonly attributed in large part to stakeholder misunderstanding of the FERPA-HIPAA regulatory overlap.