Policy committee debates proposed amendment to pupil privacy policy, forwards unamended revision to school board

At its May 6, 2025 meeting, the Faribault Public School District policy committee examined proposed amendments to Policy 5-15, “Protection and Privacy of Pupil Records,” including language that would have barred school officials from disclosing to parents certain information about a minor’s request for a different name/pronoun or for gender-affirming medical care.

The committee heard a written legal opinion from the district’s outside counsel, Margaret Skelton of Ratwick, Rozak & Maloney, who advised against the proposed blanket exemption. Committee members debated the policy language’s scope and the standard for withholding data from parents under state law before voting to forward the policy as it appears in the packet (without the proposed amendment) to the school board.

Why it matters: The debate centered on the…