2000 Minnesota Statutes

     13.32 Educational data. 

    Subdivision 1.    Definitions.  As used in this section: 

    (a) "Educational data" means data on individuals maintained 
 by a public educational agency or institution or by a person 
 acting for the agency or institution which relates to a student. 

    Records of instructional personnel which are in the sole 
 possession of the maker thereof and are not accessible or 
 revealed to any other individual except a substitute teacher, 
 and are destroyed at the end of the school year, shall not be 
 deemed to be government data.  

    Records of a law enforcement unit of a public educational 
 agency or institution which are maintained apart from education 
 data and are maintained solely for law enforcement purposes, and 
 are not disclosed to individuals other than law enforcement 
 officials of the jurisdiction are not educational data; 
 provided, that education records maintained by the educational 
 agency or institution are not disclosed to the personnel of the 
 law enforcement unit.  The University of Minnesota police 
 department is a law enforcement agency for purposes of section 
 13.82 and other sections of Minnesota Statutes dealing with law 
 enforcement records.  Records of organizations providing 
 security services to a public educational agency or institution 
 must be administered consistent with section 13.861. 

    Records relating to a student who is employed by a public 
 educational agency or institution which are made and maintained 
 in the normal course of business, relate exclusively to the 
 individual in that individual's capacity as an employee, and are 
 not available for use for any other purpose are classified 
 pursuant to section 13.43.  

    (b) "Juvenile justice system" includes criminal justice 
 agencies and the judiciary when involved in juvenile justice 
 activities. 

    (c) "Student" means an individual currently or formerly 
 enrolled or registered, applicants for enrollment or 
 registration at a public educational agency or institution, or 
 individuals who receive shared time educational services from a 
 public agency or institution. 

    (d) "Substitute teacher" means an individual who performs 
 on a temporary basis the duties of the individual who made the 
 record, but does not include an individual who permanently 
 succeeds to the position of the maker of the record. 

    Subd. 2.    Student health and census data; data on 
 parents.  (a) Health data concerning students, including but 
 not limited to, data concerning immunizations, notations of 
 special physical or mental problems and records of school nurses 
 are educational data.  Access by parents to student health data 
 shall be pursuant to section 13.02, subdivision 8.  

    (b) Pupil census data, including emergency information and 
 family information are educational data. 

    (c) Data concerning parents are private data on individuals 
 but may be treated as directory information if the same 
 procedures that are used by a school district to designate 
 student data as directory information under subdivision 5 are 
 followed. 

    Subd. 3.    Private data; when disclosure is permitted.  
 Except as provided in subdivision 5, educational data is private 
 data on individuals and shall not be disclosed except as follows:

    (a) Pursuant to section 13.05; 

    (b) Pursuant to a valid court order; 

    (c) Pursuant to a statute specifically authorizing access 
 to the private data; 

    (d) To disclose information in health and safety 
 emergencies pursuant to the provisions of United States Code, 
 title 20, section 1232g(b)(1)(I) and Code of Federal 
 Regulations, title 34, section 99.36; 

    (e) Pursuant to the provisions of United States Code, title 
 20, sections 1232g(b)(1), (b)(4)(A), (b)(4)(B), (b)(1)(B), 
 (b)(3) and Code of Federal Regulations, title 34, sections 
 99.31, 99.32, 99.33, 99.34, and 99.35; 

    (f) To appropriate health authorities to the extent 
 necessary to administer immunization programs and for bona fide 
 epidemiologic investigations which the commissioner of health 
 determines are necessary to prevent disease or disability to 
 individuals in the public educational agency or institution in 
 which the investigation is being conducted; 

    (g) When disclosure is required for institutions that 
 participate in a program under title IV of the Higher Education 
 Act, United States Code, title 20, chapter 1092; 

    (h) To the appropriate school district officials to the 
 extent necessary under subdivision 6, annually to indicate the 
 extent and content of remedial instruction, including the 
 results of assessment testing and academic performance at a 
 post-secondary institution during the previous academic year by 
 a student who graduated from a Minnesota school district within 
 two years before receiving the remedial instruction; 

    (i) To appropriate authorities as provided in United States 
 Code, title 20, section 1232g(b)(1)(E)(ii), if the data concern 
 the juvenile justice system and the ability of the system to 
 effectively serve, prior to adjudication, the student whose 
 records are released; provided that the authorities to whom the 
 data are released submit a written request for the data that 
 certifies that the data will not be disclosed to any other 
 person except as authorized by law without the written consent 
 of the parent of the student and the request and a record of the 
 release are maintained in the student's file; 

    (j) To volunteers who are determined to have a legitimate 
 educational interest in the data and who are conducting 
 activities and events sponsored by or endorsed by the 
 educational agency or institution for students or former 
 students; 

    (k) To provide student recruiting information, from 
 educational data held by colleges and universities, as required 
 by and subject to Code of Federal Regulations, title 32, section 
 216; or 

    (l) To the juvenile justice system if information about the 
 behavior of a student who poses a risk of harm is reasonably 
 necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or 
 other individuals. 

    (m) With respect to social security numbers of students in 
 the adult basic education system, to Minnesota state colleges 
 and universities and the department of economic security for the 
 purpose and in the manner described in section 124D.52, 
 subdivision 7. 

    Subd. 4.    Student's access to private data.  A student 
 shall not have the right of access to private data provided in 
 section 13.04, subdivision 3, as to financial records and 
 statements of the student's parents or any information contained 
 therein.  

    Subd. 5.    Directory information.  Information 
 designated as directory information pursuant to the provisions 
 of United States Code, title 20, section 1232g and Code of 
 Federal Regulations, title 34, section 99.37 which are in effect 
 on July 1, 1993, is public data on individuals.  When conducting 
 the directory information designation and notice process 
 required by federal law, an educational agency or institution 
 shall give parents and students notice of the right to refuse to 
 let the agency or institution designate any or all data about 
 the student as directory information.  This notice may be given 
 by any means reasonably likely to inform the parents and 
 students of the right. 

    Subd. 6.    Admissions forms; remedial instruction.  (a) 
 Minnesota post-secondary education institutions, for purposes of 
 reporting and research, may collect on the 1986-1987 admissions 
 form, and disseminate to any public educational agency or 
 institution the following data on individuals:  student sex, 
 ethnic background, age, and disabilities.  The data shall not be 
 required of any individual and shall not be used for purposes of 
 determining the person's admission to an institution. 

    (b) A school district that receives information under 
 subdivision 3, paragraph (h) from a post-secondary institution 
 about an identifiable student shall maintain the data as 
 educational data and use that data to conduct studies to improve 
 instruction.  Public post-secondary systems annually shall 
 provide summary data to the department of children, families, 
 and learning indicating the extent and content of the remedial 
 instruction received in each system during the prior academic 
 year by, and the results of assessment testing and the academic 
 performance of, students who graduated from a Minnesota school 
 district within two years before receiving the remedial 
 instruction.  The department shall evaluate the data and 
 annually report its findings to the education committees of the 
 legislature. 

    (c) This section supersedes any inconsistent provision of 
 law.  

    Subd. 7.    Uses of data.  School officials who receive 
 data on juveniles, as authorized under sections 260B.171 and 
 260C.171, may use and share that data within the school district 
 or educational entity as necessary to protect persons and 
 property or to address the educational and other needs of 
 students.  A school district, its agents, and employees who use 
 and share this data in good faith are immune from civil or 
 criminal liability that might otherwise result from their 
 actions. 

    Subd. 8.    Access by juvenile justice system.  (a) Upon 
 request, the following education data shall be disclosed under 
 subdivision 3, clause (i), to the juvenile justice system:  a 
 student's full name, home address, telephone number, date of 
 birth; a student's school schedule, attendance record, and 
 photographs, if any; and parents' names, home addresses, and 
 telephone numbers.  

    (b) In addition, the following data on behavior by a 
 student who is on probation may be disclosed under subdivision 
 3, clause (i) or (1), to the juvenile justice system: 

    (1) use of a controlled substance, alcohol, or tobacco; 

    (2) assaultive or threatening conduct that could result in 
 dismissal from school under section 121A.45, subdivision 2, 
 clause (b) or (c); 

    (3) possession or use of weapons or look-alike weapons; 

    (4) participation in gang activity as defined by the 
 criminal gang oversight council under section 299A.64, 
 subdivision 2, paragraph (b); 

    (5) theft; or 

    (6) vandalism or other damage to property. 

    Any request for access to data under this paragraph must 
 contain an explanation of why access to the data is necessary to 
 serve the student or to protect students or staff. 

    (c) A superintendent of a school district or chief 
 administrative officer of a school who discloses information 
 about a student to the juvenile justice system under this 
 paragraph shall, to the extent permitted by federal law, notify 
 the student's parent or guardian of the disclosure. 

    (d) Nothing in this subdivision shall limit the disclosure 
 of educational data pursuant to court order. 

    HIST: 1979 c 328 s 18; 1980 c 603 s 26; 1981 c 311 s 14,39; 
 1982 c 545 s 24; 1984 c 436 s 14; 1985 c 298 s 9,10; 1986 c 444; 
 1989 c 351 s 4,5; 1993 c 13 art 1 s 9,10; 1993 c 351 s 2-4; 1994 
 c 618 art 1 s 4; 1994 c 636 art 4 s 1; 1995 c 259 art 1 s 6; 
 1Sp1995 c 3 art 16 s 13; 1996 c 440 art 1 s 3,4; 1Sp1997 c 3 s 
 1-3; 1999 c 139 art 4 s 2; 1999 c 227 s 3,4,22; 2000 c 451 s 1; 
 2000 c 468 s 10; 2000 c 489 art 1 s 1