Under Maryland law, parents are the natural guardians of their minor children. In cases where children live with both of their parents, the parents also may be said to have joint legal and physical custody of their children.
In a sense, parents give up physical custody of their children (temporarily) each morning when they send them school. The School's staff assumes physical custody of the child during the school day and any scheduled after-school activities. At the end of the day, the School relinquishes physical custody back to the parents. Any deviation from the normal arrangements (e.g., taking children on a field trip, keeping them for an after-school event, releasing them to someone other than the parents) requires the consent of the parents. (Note: The use of field trip permission forms is essentially a custody issue, although the forms also include a liability waiver.)
In cases where parents are separated or divorced, their custody arrangements often are set forth in a written agreement or court order. The parents also may agree upon custody arrangements prior to court intervention, and may agree from time to time to deviate from the arrangements described in any legal documents. The School may accept any agreement of the parents with respect to custody arrangements.
Many divorced couples have joint legal custody, i.e., joint authority to make decisions about where the child lives and goes to school, significant medical treatment, etc. As for physical custody, the parents may alternate according to a schedule (e.g., child lives with mom one week, and with dad the next week), or one parent may have primary physical custody while the other parent has visitation rights.
Parents are responsible for communicating with the School about their custody arrangements (formal or informal) and any changes. The School also should request copies of any legal documents or written agreements that relate to custody; in the event of a dispute between the parents regarding custody, the School will need to rely on a current legal document. The parent with physical custody at the time in question must consent to any deviations from the normal arrangement.
It is essential to distinguish between the right to control physical access to the child (custody) and a parent's right under State and Federal law to review the child's educational records. The School may not deny a parent (including a non-custodial parent) the right to review his or her child's educational records unless a court order or legally binding agreement specifically revokes that right.
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