FERPA Commitment

Last updated: September 13, 2026

A Different Starting Point Than School-Licensed Software

Most classroom software written about in FERPA terms assumes a school or district has formally selected and contracted with the vendor. That's what lets the vendor act as a "school official" under FERPA's exception, using student records solely under the school's direct control. Center Desk Drawer doesn't start there: an individual teacher creates an account directly, often without their school's knowledge or a district-level agreement in place.

That matters. It means the "school official" exception may not automatically apply to your use of Center Desk Drawer the way it would for software your district has formally adopted. Complying with FERPA, and any state law like it, for the information you enter is your responsibility as the person who chose to use the tool, not something an exception automatically resolves on your behalf.

What We've Built to Make That Easier

• We only ask for a student's first name and last initial, never a full legal name.
• We don't collect any parent or guardian information at all, through the product or the family link.
• Reading activity and achievements are the only other student-linked data the product creates.
• There's no free-text field anywhere in the roster or reading log where sensitive information (health, discipline, custody, or similar) could end up.

If Your School or District Wants to Formally Review Us

We're glad to work directly with a school or district that wants to evaluate, approve, or put a data agreement in place for Center Desk Drawer. Contact us and we'll work through what your district needs.

Directory-Information-Type Content

Plot Twist achievements and reading milestones are visible to a collaborator you've added to a class, and to a family member holding that student's link. This is limited to the kind of low-sensitivity information schools commonly treat as "directory information," never grades, discipline, or health information, but whether that classification applies is a determination for your school to make, not us, if your school has a policy on the subject.

Questions

Reach us at hello@modelb.app with any FERPA-related questions about how Center Desk Drawer operates.