FERPA requires CEPI to establish a data access policy.  CEPI has established five levels of access to the data.  Those at Level I have complete access, while those at Level 5 have the least amount of access. 

Level 1 access is authorized only to those individuals who audit the system or are responsible for maintaining security.  Those at Level 1 can view all the records and read and write to all the fields in the database. 

Level 2 access allows superintendents at local and intermediate school districts (ISDs) to verify their own data.  Superintendents can view all records and fields (including name fields) for their own students only.  Local and intermediate school districts are the originators of the data and are allowed in the MEIS Data Warehouse to access the records they already have provided.  They cannot access records they did not submit themselves.  Access to student records at the local and ISD level has not changed with the implementation of the SRSD, whether the request is a hard copy or an electronic file. 

Level 3 applies to those who must perform audits, accreditation, and those who report to state and federal agencies and includes those with legitimate research purposes with approved research proposals.  Those at Level 3 can view more fields in the database than those with Level 4 access.  They can access individual records by the unique record number only. 

Level 4 (state government agencies, state legislators, legislative aides, and the Executive Branch) can view more fields than those with Level 5 access.  They can obtain data in the aggregate only.  They cannot access individual records. 

Those with Level 5 access can access reports, data tables, etc., which report information in the aggregate.  They cannot access individual records.