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Advisory Opinion 96-015

March 29, 1996; School District 001 (Minneapolis)

3/29/1996 10:15:43 AM

This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to section 13.072 of Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13 - the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. It is based on the facts and information available to the Commissioner as described below.

Facts and Procedural History:

For purposes of simplification, the information presented by the citizen who requested this opinion and the response from the government entity with which the citizen disagrees are presented in summary form. Copies of the complete submissions are on file at the offices of PIPA and, unless classified as other than public data, are available for public access.

On February 20, 1996, PIPA received a faxed letter from Dean Berckes. In his letter, Mr. Berckes requested that the Commissioner issue an opinion regarding Mr. Berckes' access to certain data maintained by School District Number 1, Minneapolis, hereinafter Minneapolis.

In response to Mr. Berckes' request, PIPA, on behalf of the Commissioner, wrote to Peter Hutchinson, Superintendent of Minneapolis. The purposes of this letter, dated February 22, 1996, were to inform Mr. Hutchinson of Mr. Berckes' request, to ask him or Minneapolis' attorney to provide information or support for Minneapolis' position, and to inform him of the date by which the Commissioner was required to issue this opinion. On March 6, 1996, PIPA received a faxed response from James A. Cunningham, Assistant to the District General Counsel.

A summary of the facts surrounding this matter is as follows. In his opinion request, Mr. Berckes stated, Enclosed you will find a copy of request [sic] for public school data made to District #1 Minneapolis Public Schools, by Superior Driving School, Inc. Also enclosed is a letter of denied request from Minneapolis Public Schools.

In his data request letter to Minneapolis, dated January 9, 1996, Mr. Berckes wrote:

Enclosed you will find a request for the first and last names of the students and the names of their parent(s) or legal guardian(s), in your school district for the

seventh

through

ninth

grade for this current school year of 1995/1996.

Dennis Lander, Director of Student Accounting for Minneapolis, responded, in an undated letter, to Mr. Berckes' request. Mr. Lander wrote:

As I mentioned in our conversation of January 9, 1996, we are unable to provide names, address or parent names of students enrolled or previously enrolled in the Minneapolis Public Schools. Minneapolis Public School policy 5350 prohibits us from providing the data as it is not Directory Information as defined by state and federal data practices statute [sic] and law.

In response to Mr. Berckes' opinion request, Mr. Cunningham stated that because the data requested by Mr. Berckes are not designated by Minneapolis as directory information, the data are not public and not available to Mr. Berckes. Mr. Cunningham included relevant language from School Board Policy 5350.

Issues:

In his request for an opinion, Mr. Berckes asked the Commissioner to address the following issues:

Are the first and last names of Minneapolis Public School students public data?
Are the first and last names of the parents/legal guardians of Minneapolis Public School students public data?

Discussion:

Mr. Berckes has asked the Commissioner to determine the classification of certain data about students and parents/legal guardians which are maintained by Minneapolis. To make that determination, it is necessary to examine Minnesota Statutes Section 13.32, educational data.

Section 13.32, subdivision 1, states that educational data are data about individuals maintained by a public educational agency or institution which relate to a student. Subdivision 2 (b) of Section 13.32, states that data concerning parents are educational data. Subdivision 3 of Section 13.32, states that except as provided in subdivision 5, educational data are private data and shall not be disclosed except in certain circumstances. (Subdivision 3 does go on to list the additional circumstances in which private data may be disclosed. One of those exceptions includes obtaining consent from the data subject.)

However, it is the language of Section 13.32, subdivision 5, that pertains to the issues raised by Mr. Berckes. Subdivision 5 states, Information designated as directory information pursuant to the provisions of United States Code, title 20, section 1232g and Code of Federal Regulations, title 34, section 99.37 which are in effect on July 1, 1993, is public data on individuals.

In 34 CFR, directory information is defined in Section 99.3 as:

...information contained in an education record of a student which would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed. It includes, but is not limited to the student's name, address, telephone listing, date and place of birth, major field of study, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received, and the most recent previous educational agency or institution attended.

Section 99.37 of 34 CFR provides the conditions which apply to disclosure of directory information:

(a) An educational agency or institution may disclose directory information if it has given public notice to parents of students in attendance and eligible students in attendance at the agency or institution of:

(1) The types of personally identifiable information that the agency or institution has designated as directory information;

(2) A parent's or eligible student's right to refuse to let the agency or institution designate any or all of those types of information about the student as directory information; and

(3) The period of time within which a parent or eligible student has to notify the agency or institution in writing that he or she does not want any or all of those types of information about the student designated as directory information....

In summation, the effect of the interaction between state and federal law is that items of information properly designated under federal law as directory information become public data for purposes of Chapter 13. Proper designation means that a school district has performed the steps outlined in the federal code: (1) the district has designated the types of data it intends to treat as directory information; and (2) the district has given public notice to students and parents announcing (a) which data the district intends to treat as directory information, and (b) that students and parents may refuse to let the district treat those data as directory information.

Even if a school district has said it intends to treat certain data as directory information, those data cannot be released as public unless the district has completed all of the steps outlined in federal law. In addition, if a parent or student notifies the school district that s/he does not wish certain data about that student to be directory information, those data would remain private.

In the present situation, Mr. Berckes has requested access to the first and last names of seventh through ninth grade students and the names of their parents/legal guardians. On the issue of directory information, Minneapolis School Board Policy 5350 states:

The only pupil information which can be released to the public, community groups, or governmental agencies, is confined to that information which the Minneapolis Public Schools have designated as directory information as follows:

1. Name, height, and weight of individual members of athletic teams;

2. Name of recipient and the name of the award or scholarship;

3. Names of participants in officially recognized activities.

All other data collected regarding individuals is private data.

Upon examination of Policy 5350, it appears Minneapolis has designated only very limited information as directory information, i.e., names of students who participate in officially recognized activities or receive awards or scholarships, or the names, heights, and weights of students who are members of athletic teams. Given the discretion granted to educational institutions under federal law, a designation of limited information is permissible.

Therefore, because Mr. Berckes requested access to the names of allseventh through ninth grade students, and Minneapolis has not designated the names of all studentsas directory information, the data sought by Mr. Berckes are not public. Based on Policy 5350, it appears that had Mr. Berckes requested access to names of students in relation to certain activities, etc., he would have been granted access to those data.

Mr. Berckes also requested access to the first and last names of parents of seventh through ninth grade students. Because that information has not been designated by Minneapolis as directory information, those data are not public.

Opinion:

Based on the correspondence in this matter, my opinion on the issues raised by Mr. Berckes is as follows:

Minneapolis has designated, as directory information, the names of certain students who participate in certain activities or who have received certain awards. Because Mr. Berckes requested access to the names of any and all seventh through ninth grade students, the data he requested are not directory information and, therefore, are not public.
Minneapolis has not designated first and last names of parents/legal guardians as directory information. Therefore, those data are not public.

Signed:

Elaine S. Hansen
Commissioner

Dated: March 29, 1996

Educational data

Directory information