520 Policy: Student Surveys

1. PURPOSE
   
   Occasionally, the school district utilizes surveys to obtain student opinions and information about students. The purpose of this policy is to establish the parameters of information that may be sought in student surveys. This policy does not apply to instructional materials.
    
2. GENERAL STATEMENT OF POLICY
    
   1. Student surveys may be conducted as determined necessary by the school district. Surveys, analyses, and evaluations conducted as part of any program funded through the U.S. Department of Education must comply with 20 U.S.C. § 1232h.
       
   2. Student surveys will be conducted anonymously and in an indiscernible fashion. No attempt will be made in any way to identify a student survey participant.
       
   3. There will be no requirement that the student participate in the survey, and no record of the student participation will be maintained.
       
   4. Although the survey is conducted anonymously, potential exists for personally identifiable information to be provided in response thereto. To the extent that personally identifiable information of a student is contained in his or her responses to a survey, the school district will take appropriate steps to ensure the data is protected in accordance with Minn. Stat. Ch. 13 (Minnesota Government Data Practices Act), 20 U.S.C. § 1232g (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) and 34 C.F.R. Part 99.
       
   5. The superintendent may choose not to approve any survey that seeks probing personal and/or sensitive information that could result in identifying the survey participant, or is discriminatory in nature based on age, race, color, sex, disability, religion, or national origin.
       
   6. The school district must not impose an academic or other penalty on a student who opts out of participating in a student survey.
       
   7. This policy does not apply to a survey administered to a student in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq.)
       
3. STUDENT SURVEYS
    
   1. All instructional materials which will be used in connection with any survey, analysis, or evaluation shall be available for inspection by the parents or guardians of the students within a reasonable amount of time after the request is received.
       
   2. No student shall be required, without the prior consent of the student (if the student is an adult or emancipated minor), or, in the case of an unemancipated minor, without the prior written consent of the parent or guardian, to submit to a survey that reveals information concerning:
       
      1. political affiliations or beliefs of the student or the student’s parent;
          
      2. mental and psychological problems of the student or the student’s family;
          
      3. sex behavior or attitudes;
          
      4. illegal, antisocial, self-incriminating, or demeaning behavior;
          
      5. critical appraisals of other individuals with whom respondents have close family relationships;
          
      6. legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships, such as those of lawyers, physicians, and ministers;
          
      7. religious practices, affiliations, or beliefs of the student or the student’s parent; or
          
      8. income (other than that required by law to determine eligibility for participation in a program or for receiving financial assistance under such program).
          
   3. Any and all documents containing the written permission of a parent for a student to participate in a survey will be maintained by the school district in a file separate from the survey responses.
       
4. NOTICE
    
   1. The school district must give parents and students notice of this policy at the beginning of each school year and after making substantive changes to this policy.
       
   2. The school district must inform parents at the beginning of the school year of any planned surveys and approximate dates for administering the surveys, and give parents reasonable notice of surveys scheduled after the start of the school year. The school district must give parents direct, timely notice when their students are scheduled to participate in a student survey by United States mail, e-mail, or another direct form of communication.
       
   3. The school district must give parents the opportunity to review the survey and to opt their students out of participating in the survey.
       
   4. The school district must give parents or adult students notice and an opportunity to opt the student out of participating in any non-emergency, invasive physical examination or screening that is required as a condition of attendance, administered by the school and scheduled by the school in advance, and not necessary to protect the immediate health and safety of the student or of other students. These notice provisions do not apply to any physical examination or screening that is permitted or required by applicable state law, including physical examinations or screenings that are permitted without parental notification.
       
   5. The school district will not engage in activities which involve the collection, disclosure or use of personally identifiable information from students, for the purpose of marketing or for selling that information (or otherwise providing that information to others for that purposes); therefore the provisions of 20 USC 1232h do not apply.
       
   6. Notice to parents or adult students is not required for the collection, disclosure, or use of personal information collected from students for the exclusive purpose of developing, evaluating, or providing educational products or services for, or to, students or educational institutions, such as:
       
      1. college or other post-secondary education recruitment or military;
          
      2. book clubs, magazines, and programs providing access to low cost literary products;
          
      3. curriculum and instructional materials used by elementary and secondary schools;
          
      4. tests and assessments used by elementary schools and secondary schools to provide cognitive, evaluative, diagnostic, clinical, aptitude, or achievement information about students, or to generate other statistically useful data for the purpose of securing such tests and assessments and the subsequent analysis and public release of the aggregate data from such tests and assessments;
          
      5. the sale by students of products or services to raise funds for school-related or education-related activities; and
          
      6. student recognition programs.
          
5. DEFINITIONS
    
   1. “Parent” means a legal guardian or other person acting in loco parentis (in place of a parent), such as a grandparent or stepparent with whom the child lives, or a person who is legally responsible for the welfare of the child.
       
   2. “Instructional material” means instructional content that is provided to a student, regardless of format, including printed or representational materials, audio-visual materials, and materials in electronic or digital formats (i.e., materials accessible through the Internet). The term does not include academic tests or academic assessments.
       
   3. “Invasive physical examination” means any medical examination that involves the exposure of private body parts, or act during such examination that includes incision, insertion, or injection into the body, but does not include a hearing, vision, or scoliosis screening.
       
   4. “Personal information” means individually identifiable information including a student or parent’s first and last name; a home or other physical address (including street name and the name of the city or town); a telephone number; or a Social Security identification number.

Legal References

Minn. Stat. Ch. 13 (Minnesota Government Data Practices Act)
Minn. Stat. § 121A.065 (District Surveys to Collect Student Information;
Parent Notice and Opportunity for Opting Out)
20 U.S.C. § 1232g (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)
20 U.S.C. § 1232h (Protection of Pupil Rights)
34 C.F.R. § 99 (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act Regulations)
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1400, et seq.).