A series of amendment attempts to district policies drew the most substantive debate at the Faribault Public School District Policy Committee meeting on Nov. 4, though none succeeded.

Committee member Speaker 4 asked that language referencing gender identity or expression be removed from Policy 401 and replaced with wording defining sex as "male" or "female." That proposed amendment did not receive a second and therefore failed. "Therefore, I'm asking to amend this paragraph to exclude the wording gender, identity, or expression, and add in its place as defined by male or female," Speaker 4 said during discussion; the committee recorded no second and moved on.

The committee also discussed a paragraph in Policy 417 that explains certain health services and confidentiality practices for minors. Speaker 4 expressed concern that some clinics may deny parents access to records for children as young as 12 and asked that the paragraph be deleted. Speaker 2 responded by reading how the law permits some services to be provided to minors without parental consent but cautioned that federal grant requirements — specifically for student support and academic enrichment grants referenced in the discussion — could require prior written parental consent and that grant funding could be jeopardized if those requirements are not met. "If the requirements of the federal law to obtain prior written informed consent ... is not obtained, this funding could be jeopardized," Speaker 2 said.

Neither amendment received the support needed to be considered (both failed for lack of a second). Staff and committee members agreed the district would need to monitor state rollout of the Minnesota Paid Family and Medical Leave Act and return to the committee if statutory or administrative changes require policy updates. Members also asked staff to provide a clear definition and statistics about the district's health and wellness curriculum (discussed in the meeting using the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child framework), and to clarify how partnerships with community providers relate to curriculum and referral practices.

The committee did not change policy language at this meeting; all reviewed policies were forwarded to the full school board unchanged. Staff were asked to provide requested clarifications at or before the committee's next meeting on Dec. 2, 2025.