Pursuant to the requirements of Independent School District No. 466 Dassel-Cokato School District Policy regarding educational data privacy, the following constitutes the school district’s annual notification to parents and students regarding data privacy practices of the school district. The school district has adopted a Data Privacy and Student Records Policy incorporating state and federal requirements as to data privacy rights. In summary, the policy provides:

A. Privacy Rights
Educational records which identify or could be used to identify a student other than directory information, may not be released to members of the public without the written permission of the student’s parents or guardians or the student if he or she is 18, attends a post-secondary institution, is married or has graduated. This general rule is subject to specific and limited exceptions which cannot be set out here due to limitations of space, but which are set out in district policy.

B. Directory Information
“Directory Information” includes a student’s parents’ names, student’s name, date and place of birth, sex, major field of study, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, grade levels completed, degrees and awards received, the most recent previous educational agency or institution attended by the student and other similar information. Directory information may be released to the public without prior parent or student consent unless the parent or eligible student has objected in writing to the release of one or more categories of such information. Directory information does not include a student's home address, telephone number, email address, or identifying data that references religion, race, color, social position, or nationality. A parent of a student or an eligible student in the district may refuse to permit the release of any or all categories of directory information by contacting the building principal in which said student attends and completing the form “Objection to Release of Directory Information.” This objection must be given to the district within thirty (30) days of this publication notice.

C. Inspection of Records
Parents of a student or a student may request to inspect and review any of the student’s educational records except those which are, by state or federal law, made confidential. The school district will comply with the request immediately if possible and if not, within five days exclusive of weekends and holidays. In certain special circumstances, an additional five days may be required in order to comply. Copies of records may be obtained at the actual cost of reproduction.

D. Challenge to Accuracy of Records
A parent or eligible student who believes that specific information in the student’s educational records is inaccurate, misleading, incomplete or violates the privacy or other rights of the student, may request that the school district amend or correct the record in question. If the superintendent, within a period of 30 days, declines to amend the record as requested, the parent or student who is 18 or older will be advised in writing of their right to request and obtain a hearing. If either the superintendent or, after hearing, the hearing officer appointed by the school district, determines that the record in question is inaccurate, misleading, incomplete or violates the privacy or other rights of the student, the record will be amended, the parents or student age 18 or older notified of the change, and an attempt will be made to notify past recipients of the data. If, as a result of the hearing, it is determined that the challenged record is not inaccurate, misleading, incomplete or in violation of the privacy or other rights of the student, the parent or student of age 18 or older will be notified of their rights to place a statement with the record commenting upon it and setting out any reason for disagreeing with the decision of the school district. Data in dispute will be disclosed only if the statement of disagreement is included with the disputed data. The decision of the superintendent or hearing officer is the final decision of the school district and may be appealed under the provision of the State Administrative Procedure Act, Minn. Statute C15, relating to contested cases.

E. Transfer of Records to Other Schools
Independent School District No. 466 forwards educational records of students to other schools and school districts in which a student seeks or intends to enroll upon request of that school or school district. A parent or student who is 18 years of age may request and receive a copy of the records which are transferred and may, pursuant to this policy, challenge the accuracy of the records. The district does not, however, notify parents or students of age 18 or older prior to such a transfer.

F. Data Collection Rights
A parent or eligible student when asked to supply private or confidential data, shall be informed of: (a) the purpose and intended use of the requested data; (b) whether he may refuse or is legally required to supply the requested data; (c) any known consequence arising from his supplying or refusing to supply the data and (d) the identity of the persons or entities authorized by state or federal law to receive the data.

G. Complaints for Non-Compliance
Parents and students of age 18 or older may submit written complaints of violation of rights accorded them by the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act Office, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C. 20201. This review of the data privacy rights of students and parents in the educational records maintained by Independent School District 466 is intended only to be a summary of the provisions of school district policy and applicable state and federal law.

Requests for copies of the policy and questions should be addressed to: Superintendent of Schools, Independent School District 466, 4852 Reardon Ave. SW, Suite 1700, Cokato, Minn. 55321.

Dassel-Cokato Schools district policy 515 relating to the protection and privacy of student records is in place to allow minimal information, as defined by the district in accordance with state statute, to be available to the public. 

Pursuant to applicable law, Independent School District No. 466 hereby gives notice to parents of and eligible students in grades 11 and 12 of their rights regarding the release of information to military recruiting officers and post-secondary educational institutions.  

The school district must release the following information of students in grades 11 and 12 to military recruiting officers and post-secondary educational institutions within 60 days after the date of the request. 

• name; 

• address;

• home telephone number

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.

Should the parent of a student or the eligible student so desire, any or all of the listed information will not be disclosed to military recruiting officers and post-secondary educational institutions without prior consent.  In order to refuse the release of this information without prior consent, the parent or eligible student must make a written request to the building principal within 30 days of this publication. (This notification was published on August 30, 2024)

This written request must include:

1. Name of the student and parent, as appropriate;

2. Home address;

3. Student's Grade Level;

4. School presently attended by student;

5. Parent's legal relationship to the student, if applicable;

6. Specific category or categories of information that are not to be released to military recruiting officers and post-secondary educational institutions without prior consent;

7. Specific category or categories of directory information that are not to be released to the public, including military recruiters and post-secondary educational institutions.  

NOTICE: Refusal to release the above information to military recruiting officers and post-secondary educational institutions alone does not affect the School District's release of directory information to the public, including military recruiting officers and post-secondary educational institutions. In order to make any directory information about a student private, the procedures contained in the Dassel-Cokato Schools Denial of Release of Information/Photography Opt-Out notice also must be followed. If you do not want your child's or eligible student's directory information released to military recruiting officers, you also must notify the school district that you do not want this directory information released to any member of the public, including military recruiting officers and post-secondary educational institutions.

Dassel-Cokato Schools district policy 515 relating to the protection and privacy of student records is in place to allow minimal information, as defined by the district in accordance with state statute, to be available to the public.  

Pursuant to applicable law, Independent School District No. 466 gives notice to parents of students currently in attendance in the school district, and eligible students currently in attendance in the school district, of their rights regarding "directory information."

"Directory information" includes the following information relating to a student:

• student's name; 
• photograph; 
• date and place of birth; 
• major field of study; 
• dates of attendance; 
• grade level; 
• enrollment status; 
• participation in officially recognized activities and sports; 
• weight and height of members of athletic teams; 
• degrees, honors and awards received; 
• the most recent educational agency or institution attended by the student; and other similar information.

"Directory information" also includes the name of the student's parent(s). "Directory information" does not include a student's address, phone number, email address, student's social security number, or a student's identification number ("ID") if the ID may be used to access education records without use of one or more factors that authenticate the student's identity such as a personal identification number, password, or other factor known or possessed only by the authorized user. It also does not include identifying information on a student's religion, race, color, social position, or nationality.

The primary purpose of designating certain data as directory information is to allow the School District to include such information in certain school publications.  Examples include but are not limited to:

• a playbill, showing the student's role in a drama production;
• the annual yearbook;
• honor roll, student of the month, or other recognition lists;
• graduation programs;
• sports activity sheets, such as for wrestling or football, showing weight and height of team members; and
• marketing material, including the district website, e-newsletters and social media sites.

Should parents/guardians, and eligible students, desire to make directory information "private" (i.e. subject to consent prior to disclosure), the parent/guardian, or eligible student, must make a written request to the building principal within thirty (30) days of publication of this notice. (This notification was published on August 30, 2024)

The written request must include the following information: 

1. Name of student and parents/guardians, as appropriate;
2. Home address;
3. School presently attended by student;
4. Parents/Guardians legal relationship to student, if applicable;
5. Specific category or categories of directory information which is not to be made public without the parent's/guardian's or eligible student's prior written consent.

Dassel-Cokato Schools uses a variety of digital tools to support student learning. 

Technology vendors and software are utilized to support work as we help all students develop the skills necessary to succeed in an ever-changing world.

Our curriculum, testing, and assessment tools are inventoried and list the student elements within. This list is maintained and will be communicated annually to all families at the start of each school year.

Dassel-Cokato Schools Software Inventory

Background Information

In a continual effort to ensure privacy and security, the MN Student Data Privacy Law 2022 puts into effect several components for school districts.  The majority of requirements are on behalf of tech vendors, although districts must be aware of how they access/monitor district-provided devices, provide safety notifications and maintain a list of digital tools.  School districts are responsible for providing notice to families of the curriculum, testing, and assessment tools that contain student data. The annual notification must occur within 30 days of the start of the school year.  

Digital resources used in Dassel-Cokato Schools are categorized into three tiers.

Tier 1 Digital Resources:  These are digital resources that are approved as our standard core system tools (ex: Google Suite, Google Classroom, and Schoology) that are adopted and supported with system-level resources through the technology department. They have been thoroughly vetted to meet our data privacy requirements and expectations for the protection of student, family and staff data. 

Tier 2 Digital Resources: These are school site or specific district department-adopted digital resources that are vetted, approved and meet our data privacy requirements. These digital resources are supported by the school site or specific district-level department that purchased them. 

Tier 3 Digital Resources: These are digital resources that have NOT been vetted through our district adoption process to ensure data privacy for students, staff, and families. These tools are individual classroom use tools that the teacher has reviewed and gotten approval from their school leadership to use. Classroom teachers are expected to notify families of these digital resources when they require a student to log in/ create an account to use it. Families can choose to opt-out of their students using these tier 3 tools by notifying the classroom teacher.