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Policies & Privacy

Data Collecting and Opt Outs

In addition to data collecting, parents should be aware of the dangers of the Internet especially now that children as young as 5 are using iPads and Chromebooks in school. See our sections on Internet Safety for Children and EBSCO, GALE and MN ELibrary for helps to monitor and keep your child safe.

What About Privacy Laws?  What you need to know.

  • The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) was originally a strong bill that blocked any school from disclosing Personally Identifiable Information (PII) from a student’s educational records to any non-school official without parental notification or consent.
  • In 2008 and 2009 the bill was amended and consequently left useless by allowing schools to share data with third party companies and organizations.
  • Medical and counseling records included in your child’s education records are not protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
  • The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) protects students from having to reveal personal information without parental consent IF it is required, funded by the federal government, and collects data such as political affiliations and religious beliefs.
  • Most surveys given to students are NOT required and therefore are not protected by PPRA.
  • Schools are only required to notify parents of a survey being given and allow parents to opt their children out.
  • Schools often slip this information in with multiple forms or handbooks in the beginning of the year to meet federal requirements and often goes unnoticed by parents.
  • PPRA gives you the right to stop the data mining of your child, but you have to enforce it.

Excerpt from page 6 of Data Mining Your Child (PDF) 

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA)
FERPA, a federal privacy law, that afforded parents the right to:

  • Have access to their children’s education records,
  • Confirm the accuracy and seek to have the records amended,
  • Review and appeal the information, and
  • Consent to the disclosure of personally identifiable information

What Is FERPA (PDF), provided by the Capitol Resource Institute, explains what each of these rights meant. the newer PPRA amendment protects against data that isn’t required.  You may have to be diligent in seeking to opt your child out of these surveys. Often data mining is part of the Social Emotional Learning curriculum. The Data Mining Your Child (PDF) guidebook explains how to opt out of these in-class invasive surveys.

Have you ever wondered what EdTech apps your student is required to use at school and what information is collected and shared? The Student Data Privacy Project is addressing this issue by providing parents with sample templates and letters so that you can request your child’s data from their school.

More Privacy Issue Information

Is Your Child Unsafe at the Doctor’s Office? Invasive Teen Questionnaire

A HealthPartner’s policy is being implemented that requires clinicians to administer a pre-teen/teen invasive health questionnaire answered only by the adolescent. The parent is then asked to leave the child alone with the clinician so the clinician can engage the child “one-on-one” about the answers and personal concerns. Plus with whom is this data being shared? State law allows the Minnesota Department of Health to require providers and health plans to “provide patient health records and claim files” M.S. 62J.321 Data Collection & Processing Procedures. Please read the following for details so you can protect your child!

• Is Your Child Unsafe at the Doctor’s Office?
• Questionnaire (PDF)
• Letter: Parents beware of new health survey (PDF)
• When the Sign Says “No Parents Allowed”
Beware of doctors that won’t let you as a parent accompany your child to the clinical area. The HIPPA Privacy Act is supposed to protect us from tyranny or any unethical deeds done by doctors and any other outside parties. It is absurd to think that a child’s privacy is being violated by having their own parent with them.

Comprehensive Sexual Health Education (CSE) and Your Rights as a Parent

Attention Parents: SIECUS and Planned Parenthood are trying to MANDATE Comprehensive Sex Education (CSE) through legislation in MN and throughout the nation. If the CSE bill passes in the 2020 MN session, every school will be required to teach CSE from K-12 in all public and charter schools. Read more and stay informed at Stop Comprehensive Sex Education (CSE)

You have a legal right to know what health curriculum and resources your school is using. Please check with your own school. Look at the list of Prominent CSE curricula. Many have been surprised to learn that their own schools have already adopted CSE curriculum. Take it before other parents, your school administrators and your school boards if necessary. CSE is not a state mandate…yet. You still have a voice and you still have parental rights in directing the education of your children. It’s up to you.

Parental Non-Consent Form
This form prepared by The Liberty Council law firm, Lynchburg, VA, may be used by Minnesota parents in their local schools concerning curriculum that they object to. The purpose of this form is to put the school on notice regarding what is/is not acceptable for your child and that you must be provided preemptive notice. The introductory letter explains how to use this form and recommends that you fill one out for each of your children. Liberty Council states that they are prepared to assist and provide guidance in this area.

With the ever-expanding use of CSE in schools, it is important for you to know what the Minnesota state law currently states.

MN law 120A.22, Subdivion 1
The parent of a child is primarily responsible for assuring that the child acquires knowledge and skills that are essential for effective citizenship.

MN law 120B.20
Each school district shall have a procedure for a parent, guardian, or an adult student, 18 years of age or older, to review the content of the instructional materials to be provided to a minor child or to an adult student and, if the parent, guardian, or adult student objects to the content, to make reasonable arrangements with school personnel for alternative instruction. Alternative instruction may be provided by the parent, guardian, or adult student if the alternative instruction, if any, offered by the school board does not meet the concerns of the parent, guardian, or adult student. The school board is not required to pay for the costs of alternative instruction provided by a parent, guardian, or adult student. School personnel may not impose an academic or other penalty upon a student merely for arranging alternative instruction under this section. School personnel may evaluate and assess the quality of the student’s work.

Public Policy

Protection of Pupil Rights

The Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, is an open access to law website.  This US code protects the rights of students in conjunction with parents.  As we battle for parental rights, this code may be of importance. 20 U.S. Code § 1232h

Title IX Sex Discrimination Rules

Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments was written to ensure that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” The US Department of Education appears set to use Title IX as the legal authority for creating a new prohibition against discrimination on the basis of “gender identity.”  Draft Policy (regulation begins on page 651).

Child Protection League joined a coalition of 27 organizations through Parents Defending Education to send a letter to Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona expressing concerns with a forthcoming rewrite of Title IX sex discrimination rules. Coalition Letter (PDF)

SAVE also has an extensive list of the attorneys general, lawmakers, organizations, and commentators who have come out in opposition to the draft policy.  CPL signed on to this list as well.

Legislative Issues and Bills

Issues and potential bills happen so fast that it is often difficult to keep up. This is where CPL can help! We do our best to keep you informed of bills affecting our children so that you can submit public comment and contact legislators.

For details about current MN legislation, go to our Take Action page.

Sign up to receive our newsletters using the form Receive Email Updates. If you have any concerns or additional information, please let us know by using our CPL Online Form.

School Policies

  • School Funding
    Did you know that the school districts across the country received “Covid 19 Relief” funding? How was this money distributed? Read Covid Relief Funding Streams for School Districts for how these Billion+ dollars went!
  • School Boards are the Front Lines
    School boards are often the gate keepers for the school districts. The new strategy of those pushing radical agendas to “fundamentally transform our nation” is to do so locally, through our children. Local community leaders are often hostile to the values and virtues of the family.Parents are beginning to rise up! They want reading, writing and arithmetic – not lessons on Critical Race Theory, Equity, gender identity, to name a few. CPL is here to help! Learn ways you and your community can make a difference at the school board level!Go to School Boards—The Key
  • Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Equity
    Schools are integrating Critical Race Theory (CRT) into all aspects of curriculum, even math! Is your child being exposed at school to this detrimental theory? According to Britannica, CRT is the view that race, instead of being biologically grounded and natural, is socially constructed and that race, as a socially constructed concept, functions as a means to maintain the interests of the white population that constructed it.Read more details on this hot topic at Critical Race Theory and Equity.
  • Racial Quotas in School Discipline
    Overview: Minnesota is full steam ahead implementing the racial quotas in school discipline in schools throughout the state.
    History: Upon recommendation of the Federal Commission studying school safety, acting U.S. Attorney General Whitaker rescinded the Obama-era “Racial Equity in School Discipline” directive that disregarded federal law and subjected public school students to two-tiered discipline based on race. However, the Dayton administration anticipated this sea change and initiated its own racial equity directive. In October of 2017, the MN Department of Human Rights (MDHR) sent a letter to 43 school districts informing them that they have a “racial discipline disparity” in violation of the MN Human Rights Act. Unless they entered into a “settlement agreement” with the state, they would file charges and investigate them for civil rights violations.
    Read Minnesota Goes Full Radical on Race Based School Discipline.
  • MN State High School League (MSHSL) Transgender Policy
    The issue of transgender was addressed by the MSHSL in 2014 which, as predicted, opened the door for girls’ sports teams to biological males. The Child Protection League was active in sounding the alarm. Take a look at the ads CPL produced that are just as relevant today and read the history about this policy at MSHSL Transgender Policy.

Gender & Privacy Policies

The gender ideology is now creeping into our schools indoctrinating our children even at the elementary level. What is the pronoun mandate? Are our children safe when male students can use female restrooms and locker rooms because the male student decides he now identifies as a female despite his male biological body? Be aware of what is occurring in your schools and communities that embrace this dangerous new trend.