Notices & Reports

Owatonna Public Schools are proud to promote the success of our students, staff, and programs. These accomplishments may draw the attention of newspapers, television stations and other media who visit our schools to photograph, film, and identify students and staff during various activities. The District also uses names, images and video clips of students in materials such as newsletters, website content and posting to social media platforms.

To restrict the District and those acting under its permission the ability to feature your student, please use this Media Opt-Out Form. If the District does not receive this form, your student will be included in materials for public promotion. A separate signature form is required for each child in school. Please sign and return this form to your child's school. Should you choose to opt-out, a new form will have to be completed each school year.

"Directory information" relating to a student shall be public information, which the school district may disclose from the education records of a student. In order to make any or all of the directory information "private," the parent or eligible student must make a written request to the building principal by October 1.  The written request must include the name of the student and parent, as appropriate; home address; school presently attended by student; parent's legal relation to student, if applicable; specific category or categories of directory information, which is not to be made public without the parent's or eligible student's prior written consent. 

"Directory information" includes the following information relating to a student: the student's name, photograph, dates of attendance, grade level, enrollment status (i.e., full or part-time), participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, degrees, and honors and awards received, and the most recent educational agency or institution attended. "Directory information" does not include a student's social security number, a student's identification number (ID) or other unique personal identifier, identifying information on a student's religion, race, color, social position or nationality, or data collected from non-public school students.

For more information, please see Policy 515 (Protection and Privacy of Pupil Records)

Independent School District No. 761 gives notice to parents of students currently in attendance in the District, and eligible students currently in attendance in the District, of their rights regarding pupil records.  Parents and eligible students have the right to inspect and review the student's education records; seek amendment of the student's education records to ensure that those records are not inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student's privacy or other rights; consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student's education records, except to the extent that federal and state law and the regulations promulgated thereunder authorize disclosures without consent.

Copies of the school board policy and accompanying procedures and regulations are available to parents and students upon written request to the Superintendent's office, or on the website.

The school district must release, without parent or student consent, the names, addresses, and home telephone numbers of students enrolled in the 11th and 12th grades to military recruiting officers and post-secondary institutions within 60 days after the date of the request. Data released to military recruiting officers under this provision may be used only for the purpose of providing information to students about military service, state and federal veterans’ education benefits, and other career and educational opportunities provided by the military and cannot be further disseminated to any other person except personnel of the recruiting services of the armed forces. In order to refuse the release of this information, the parent or eligible student must make a written request to the responsible authority, the building principal, by October 1. The written request must include the name of the student and parent, as appropriate; home address; student's grade level; parent's legal relation to student, if applicable; specific category or categories of information, which is not to be released to the public, including military recruiters.

Click here for the application and instructions for meal benefits and eligibility information

Pursuant to Minnesota statutes, school lockers are the property of the school district. At no time does the school district relinquish its exclusive control of lockers provided for the convenience of students. Inspection of the interior of lockers may be conducted by school authorities for any reason at any time, without notice, without student consent, and without a search warrant. The personal possessions of students within a school locker may be searched only when school officials have a reasonable suspicion that the search will uncover evidence of a violation of law or school rules. As soon as practicable after the search of a student’s personal possessions, the school authorities must provide notice of the search to students whose lockers were searched unless disclosure would impede an ongoing investigation by police or school officials.

Click here to read the full policy (502) regarding the search of student lockers, desks, personal possessions and student's person.

PPRA affords parents of elementary and secondary students certain rights regarding the conduct of surveys, collection and use of information for marketing purposes, and certain physical exams. These include, but are not limited to, the right to: 

• Consent before students are required to submit to a survey that concerns one or more of the protected areas (“protected information survey”) if the survey is funded in whole or in part by a program of the U.S. Department of Education (ED)
• Receive notice and an opportunity to opt out
• Inspect, upon request and before administration or use

These rights transfer from the parents to a student who is 18 years old or an emancipated minor under State law.

Independent School District #761 will directly notify parents of these policies at least annually at the start of each school year and after any substantive changes. Independent School District #761 will also directly notify, such as through U.S. Mail or email, parents of students who are scheduled to participate in the specific activities or surveys noted below and will provide an opportunity for the parent to opt his or her child out of participation of the specific activity or survey. Independent School District #761 will make this notification to parents at the beginning of the school year if the District has identified the specific or approximate dates of the activities or surveys at that time. For surveys and activities scheduled after the school year starts, parents will be provided reasonable notification of the planned activities and surveys listed below and be provided an opportunity to opt their child out of such activities and surveys. Parents will also be provided an opportunity to review any pertinent surveys. Following is a list of the specific activities and surveys covered under this direct notification requirement:

• Collection, disclosure, or use of personal information collected from students for marketing, sales, or other distribution.
• Administration of any protected information survey not funded in whole or in part by ED.
• Any non-emergency, invasive physical examination or screening as described above.

Parents who believe their rights have been violated may file a complaint with:

Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue SW
Washington, D.C. 20202

Click here to read the full notice with the list of protected areas.