Idaho law gives parents five days—not 45—to see school records
The Idaho Supreme Court is weighing whether schools can turn FERPA’s 45-day maximum into a wait that overrides Idaho’s five-school-day promise to parents.
Idaho’s five-school-day records law means what it says, and the Idaho Supreme Court should enforce it instead of letting a federal ceiling become a six-week wait. On October 15, 2026, the Idaho Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Pocatello in Kollmann v. Soda Springs Joint School District, a case about whether a school district can make a parent wait 45 days for his daughter’s records when Idaho law requires records within five school days unless another applicable state or federal law sets a different timeline. Idaho Education News reported Oct. 20 that the court has not ruled1.
Who sets the wait for a Soda Springs father: the law Idaho passed, or the district that would rather take longer?
Idaho law sets a five-day deadline
Idaho Code 33-6001(3) says a school policy may not keep parents from their children’s education and health records, except records relating to abuse, abandonment or neglect by the parent. The statute then sets the clock: records go to the parent within five school days of a request unless another timeline is delineated in a specific applicable state or federal law2.
A district’s preference for more time is not a law. Five days is the rule, and the exception has to be named, not assumed.
Parents—not districts—direct their children’s education
Idaho’s statute tells schools to reinforce the rights and responsibilities of parents as the primary stakeholders in decisions about their child’s upbringing and control2. A parent cannot direct a daughter’s education without seeing what the school has recorded about her.
FERPA does not require a 45-day wait
FERPA requires schools to provide access within a “reasonable period of time, but not more than 45 days” after receiving a request3; at oral argument, Kollmann’s attorney Kristian Beckett called 45 days a “maximum outer limit,” not a minimum requirement and argued that Idaho’s law intends to give residents more rights than the federal government does. He also noted that the U.S. Department of Education recognizes states may require access within a shorter period1.
A parent’s request became a 45-day wait
On Oct. 29, 2025, Richard Kollmann, a Soda Springs parent, requested all education records concerning his daughter. Then-Superintendent Scott Muir told Kollmann the district would respond within 45 days under FERPA. Kollmann sued in Caribou County, arguing Idaho’s five-day timeline should take precedence1.
A father asked for his daughter’s records, and the district named the outer limit of the federal rule as its answer.
Redaction does not turn a ceiling into a deadline
Soda Springs’ attorney, Anne Mageneli, told the justices the lower court was right to dismiss the case because FERPA applies. She said Kollmann’s request for all of his daughter’s records required redacting video footage to protect other students’ privacy, which takes time1.
Mageneli also pointed to the Idaho Public Records Act, which lets a government entity ask for a 10-day extension to an initial three-day window when a request is time-intensive1. That proves Idaho writes extensions into statute when it wants them, and by her own account the parental rights law has no carve-out letting districts ask for more time.
Idaho must make its five-day promise real
Idaho law gives a parent whose rights are violated a route to complain and requires schools to accept, evaluate and remedy those complaints. If the school does not fix the problem, the parent gets a private cause of action for injunctive relief, damages and other relief available under law2.
If the lower court’s reading stands, a federal maximum will displace Idaho’s faster guarantee in cases like this. Parents should urge the Idaho Supreme Court in Kollmann v. Soda Springs Joint School District to treat the federal rule as a ceiling and enforce Idaho’s deadline. If the justices leave room for delay, the Legislature should amend the law to make clear that a general federal ceiling is not a specific timeline. Until then, will every Idaho school district answer a parent’s request in five school days, yes or no?
Sources
- State Supreme Court weighs competing timelines for producing student records
- Section 33-6001 – Idaho State Legislature
- 34 CFR § 99.10 - What rights exist for a parent or eligible student to inspect and review education records? | Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR) | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute
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