Minnesota Teachers Empowered to Keep Parents in the Dark

Minnesota parents can be kept in the dark about important developments in their child’s life by school administrators and teachers who have broad authority under a widely adopted Minnesota School Boards Association (MSBA) policy to withhold information they deem sensitive.

At least 229 school districts in Minnesota maintain a “Protection and Privacy of Pupil Records” policy, according to the watchdog group Defending Education.

Based on language put out by the MSBA, the policy lists several categories of information educators are entitled to withhold from parents at a student’s behest, including, crucially, information related to the child’s health, which can only be released to the parent if “failure to inform the parent would seriously jeopardize the health of the minor.”

This policy, which covers more than 700,000 students across more than 1,600 schools, likely violates the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a federal law that grants parents the right to inspect their students’ records, according to Defending Education.

MSBA told National Review its policies are designed to align with current state and federal law, and the privacy policy quotes current Minnesota state law.

“As federal guidance, executive orders, and court decisions continue to evolve, MSBA will continue to monitor developments closely, work with legal counsel, and keep school districts informed so their policies and practices can be updated as needed,” MSBA said. “Districts must continue to follow existing law currently in effect, including applicable Minnesota statutes governing student data privacy and parent access to educational records.”

The Minnesota Department of Education did not respond to National Review’s request for comment.

The policy lists several reasons that a student might be justified in asking teachers and administrators to withhold information from his or her parents, including that the parents might do the child “physical or emotional harm” if the information were to be released. The policy grants educators broad authority to determine whether the child’s reasoning is sound.

While the MSBA wording does not explicitly reference gender identity, the policy is written in a sufficiently broad manner to potentially empower school employees to conceal gender transition from parents.

“The section of the [privacy] policy in question not only appears to violate federal law but also privileges the state over parents,” said Rhyen Staley, director of research at Defending Education. “Additionally, it is another tool that districts can utilize to justify keeping gender transitions a secret from parents. This is a serious breach of trust, which is why districts should act quickly to eliminate the section from the policy,” said Staley.

Further, many Minnesota schools that maintain this student privacy standard have implemented other policies specifically designed to cement radical gender ideology within the classroom.

Saint Paul Public Schools, for example, is among the schools that maintains the student privacy policy and has also implemented a policy for “socially transitioning” students that circumvents parental consent.

“Upon written or oral request from a student and regardless of parental consent, a student is to be addressed in classes, announcements, and other school gatherings by the name and/or pronoun requested by the student, unless the student’s principal determines that the use of a particular name or pronoun would be patently offensive,” the policy reads.

Further, school support staff must ask the student who identifies as “transgender, gender fluid, questioning, gender queer, gender diverse, or gender creative” how they would like to be addressed in communications with the student’s own parents, in phone calls, emails, or school materials sent to the student’s home.

Another district with the privacy policy, Osseo Area Schools, implemented “Creating Gender-Inclusive Schools” training for staff members in 2023, according to the local ABC affiliate.

Osseo has a policy similar to Saint Paul, in which students can determine what name they would like to be called at school versus at home.

During a recent school board meeting, parent Deb Spratt read aloud from an Osseo School teacher’s letter objecting to the policy.

“Is this allowed without parents’ knowledge?” The letter read. “Regardless, is it now our job to keep secrets?”

“Hearing the mindset that begins at the upper level of our school district showed me that, as a staff member, I am being pressured to teach concepts in direct conflict with my beliefs, which are not in alignment with that perspective of gender,” the letter continued.

A representative from Osseo Schools told ABC7 at the time that there was “not an expectation to do anything with the training but hear about different perspectives and how to support students and families, regardless of their gender identities.”

In states like California, for example, the Department of Education has investigated policies that have led to FERPA-noncompliance. Previously in California, AB 1955 prohibited teachers from sharing information with parents regarding their students’ gender transition.

California school districts have claimed that the state law and California Department of Education policies leave them at odds with federal law. Comply with FERPA, and districts face potential legal retribution from the state.

“Our investigation found that the California Department of Education egregiously abused its authority by pressuring school officials to withhold information about students’ so-called ‘gender transitions’ from their parents. Under Gavin Newsom’s failed leadership, school personnel have even bragged about facilitating ‘gender transitions,’ and shared strategies to target minors and conceal information about children from their own families,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement in January 2026, when DOE determined California violated FERPA.

Further, the U.S. Supreme Court determined in March of this year that California cannot hide a student’s gender transition from parents, citing a violation of the parents’ First Amendment rights.

In February, five Minnesota Republicans co-sponsored a parental rights bill, MN HF3533, which bans instruction on gender identity in grades K-8 and “mandates that public schools adopt procedures to notify parents or guardians of any changes in a student’s services or monitoring related to their mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being, or any changes affecting the school’s ability to provide a safe learning environment.”

If passed and signed into law, the bill would go into effect next school year.

Editor’s note: Additional context was added regarding MSBA’s policies and the policies’ compliance with Minnesota state law.