Making Clery Act notifications during COVID-19 – Thompson Coburn LLP
As postsecondary counsel and administrators continue to manage the many changes brought on by COVID-19, they also continue to work through a wide range of compliance issues. In a recent post, we discussed minding student privacy laws during this period of transition and disruption. In this post, we include a brief note regarding compliance with notification requirements under the Clery Act, a consumer protection law that, among other things, requires postsecondary institutions to disclose information about crime and emergencies occurring on or near campus.
In its April 3, 2020 guidance, the U.S. Department of Education affirmed that institutions must continue to comply with the Clery Act throughout the pandemic. The Department then offered specific direction regarding compliance with the requirement that institutions notify the campus community upon confirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation that poses an immediate threat to the health or safety of the institution.
To satisfy this emergency notification requirement, the Department indicated that an institution should inform students and employees about COVID-19 and necessary health and safety precautions, as well as encouraging them to obtain information from health care providers, state health authorities, and the CDC’s COVID-19 website.