CTFest™ Health Form Privacy Policy

In order to make attendance of our festivals safe, CMEA requires all vocal and/or instrumental participants have a health form on file througout the duration of the festival. This form ensures CMEA personnel have emergency contact information, parent/guardian information, and student-specific health information at the ready in the unlikely event of a medical issue.

CMEA abides by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA or the Buckley Amendment), a United States federal law that governs the access to educational information and records by public entities such as potential employers, publicly funded educational institutions, and foreign governments. The act is also referred to as the Buckley Amendment, for one of its proponents, Senator James L. Buckley of New York.

FERPA is a U.S. federal law that regulates access and disclosure of student education records. It grants parents access to their child's records, allows amendments, and controls disclosure. After a student turns 18, their consent is generally required for disclosure. The law applies to institutions receiving U.S. Department of Education funds and provides privacy rights to students 18 years or older, or those in post-secondary institutions. Disclosure is permitted to parents of dependent students, and medical records are usually protected under FERPA rather than HIPAA.

CMEA values the privacy of your children and its festival participants. As such, the following parties have the rights listed below:

Parents/Guardians

  • Can enter the health information for their dependents
  • Can view the health information they previously entered for their dependents
  • Can edit the health information they previously entered for their dependents
  • Can delete the health information they previously entered for their dependents
  • Can see a log of who has looked at their health information and when

Students over the age of consent (18+)

  • Can enter their own health information
  • Can view their own health information they previously entered
  • Can edit their own health information they previously entered
  • Can delete their own health information they previously entered
  • Can see a log of who has looked at their health information and when

Upon completion of a festival, the CTFest application will automatically delete the health information for all festival participants. This deletion is permanent. No backups exist. There is no way to reverse this process. Of course, any participant or their guardian (if applicable) may delete their information at any point with the following important exception:

Once a festival is in progress, we require all health information to be frozen - no edits or deletions are permitted. This is for the safety of our participants. Prior to the festival, each student's needs will be assessed to ensure the safest possible environment, and as such, we cannot permit last-minute health form changes electronically. If such a need arises, please speak with a CMEA representative at the festival.