Ask when a parent loses the right to see a child’s school records and almost everyone says the same thing: when the child turns eighteen. That is half the rule, and for a meaningful number of Minnesota students it is the wrong half. The federal transfer provision, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(d), reads:
For the purposes of this section, whenever a student has attained eighteen years of age, or is attending an institution of postsecondary education, the permission or consent required of and the rights accorded to the parents of the student shall thereafter only be required of and accorded to the student.
The disjunctive matters. A sixteen-year-old Minnesota student taking college courses is attending an institution of postsecondary education, and as to the records that institution maintains, the rights are the student’s — not the parent’s. Age never enters it. (The provision opens “[f]or the purposes of this section” and does not on its face limit itself to that institution’s own records; how far it reaches beyond them the text does not resolve, and neither does this article.)
Minnesota layers its own regime on top. Student records held by a Minnesota public school are government data, and chapter 13 governs them alongside FERPA. Section 13.32 is where the state rules live, and it does several things the federal statute does not.
Under Minnesota law, who holds a minor student’s data rights?
The parent — with a carve-out that lets the minor shut the parent out. Chapter 13 does not say “parent” when it grants rights; it says “individual,” defined at Minn. Stat. § 13.02, subd. 8:
“Individual” means a natural person. In the case of a minor or an incapacitated person as defined in section 524.5-102, subdivision 6, “individual” includes a parent or guardian or an individual acting as a parent or guardian in the absence of a parent or guardian, except that the responsible authority shall withhold data from parents or guardians, or individuals acting as parents or guardians in the absence of parents or guardians, upon request by the minor if the responsible authority determines that withholding the data would be in the best interest of the minor.
Three things follow. First, a parent exercises the minor’s chapter 13 rights because the parent is included in the word “individual,” not by virtue of a separate parental-access provision. Second, § 13.32 has no age-of-majority clause; the transfer happens through the definition. Section 645.451, subd. 2, defines “minor” as “an individual under the age of 18” for any Minnesota statute unless a different meaning is attached or the context requires one — so at eighteen the inclusion simply stops operating. Third, the withholding clause is mandatory in form (“shall withhold”) but conditioned on a determination by the responsible authority, made on the minor’s request, that withholding is in the minor’s best interest.
That last piece sits awkwardly next to the federal funding condition. Section 1232g(a)(1)(A) opens: “No funds shall be made available under any applicable program to any educational agency or institution which has a policy of denying, or which effectively prevents, the parents of students who are or have been in attendance at a school of such agency or at such institution, as the case may be, the right to inspect and review the education records of their children.”
Neither text resolves how a Minnesota school reconciles the two. The answer, if there is a clean one, lies in the FERPA regulations at 34 C.F.R. part 99 — the regulations § 13.32 cites throughout — and this article does not attempt it. If you are a parent who has been refused, or an administrator asked to withhold, that is a question for counsel with the records in front of them.
Who may see a Minnesota student’s record without the parent’s consent?
Nineteen lettered clauses in subdivision 3, and the default is closed. Coverage first. Section 13.32, subd. 1(a): “‘Educational data’ means data on individuals maintained by a public educational agency or institution or by a person acting for the agency or institution which relates to a student” — note “or by a person acting for,” which pulls a contractor’s files in. The same subdivision removes four categories: sole-possession records of instructional personnel destroyed at year’s end, which “shall not be deemed to be government data” at all; law enforcement unit records maintained apart and solely for law enforcement purposes; security-service organization records, administered under § 13.861; and student-employee records, classified under § 13.43 — a student worker’s personnel file is a personnel file, and the public employee personnel data rules govern it. Federal law’s parallel definition at § 1232g(a)(4)(A)–(B) is close but not identical. Subdivision 2 sweeps student health and pupil census data back in.
Subdivision 3 then opens: “Except as provided in subdivision 5, educational data is private data on individuals and shall not be disclosed except as follows:”. What follows is a list, and the list is exclusive.
In statutory order, disclosure is permitted: (a) under § 13.05; (b) under a valid court order; (c) under a statute specifically authorizing access; (d) in health and safety emergencies; (e) under federal provisions the clause enumerates by citation; (f) to health authorities for immunization programs and bona fide epidemiologic investigations; (g) as required for Higher Education Act title IV institutions; (h) to district officials under subdivision 6, on remedial instruction; (i) to appropriate authorities where the data concern the juvenile justice system’s ability to serve the student before adjudication, on a written certifying request kept in the student’s file; (j) to volunteers with a legitimate educational interest in sponsored activities; (k) student recruiting information held by colleges and universities; (l) to the juvenile justice system where information about a student who poses a risk of harm is reasonably necessary to protect health or safety; (m) Social Security numbers of adult basic education students, to Minnesota State Colleges and Universities and DEED; (n) to the commissioner of education for a chapter 260E maltreatment assessment; (o) final results of a disciplinary proceeding on a charge of a crime of violence or nonforcible sex offense; (p) registered sex offender information; (q) to a parent of a postsecondary student regarding an alcohol or controlled substance violation — but only if the institution holds a release form signed by the student, which it must publicize and distribute at orientation; (r) contact information to a public library for a library card; and (s) to federally recognized Tribal Nations about Tribally enrolled or descendant students.
Federal law runs the same idea in reverse: § 1232g(b)(1) withholds funds from an institution “which has a policy or practice of permitting the release of education records … of students without the written consent of their parents,” subject to its own exception list — the first of which, (b)(1)(A), covers “other school officials, including teachers within the educational institution or local educational agency, who have been determined by such agency or institution to have legitimate educational interests, including the educational interests of the child for whom consent would otherwise be required.”
Subdivision 4a narrows the list further for nonpublic school students reported under § 120A.24: disclosure only under subdivision 3, clause (a), (b), (c), or (f), and no directory-information designation without prior written consent.
What can a Minnesota parent actually demand, and how fast?
Two different clocks, and the state one is much shorter. Federal law sets an outer limit: § 1232g(a)(1)(A) requires procedures granting a parental access request “within a reasonable period of time, but in no case more than forty-five days after the request has been made.”
Minnesota does not wait forty-five days. Minn. Stat. § 13.04, subd. 3, gives the data subject — which, for a minor, includes the parent — the right on request to learn whether they are the subject of stored data and how it is classified, to be shown it at no charge, to be told its content and meaning, and to receive copies at the actual cost of making and certifying them. The deadline sits in the subdivision’s closing paragraph: “The responsible authority or designee shall comply immediately, if possible, with any request made pursuant to this subdivision, or within ten days of the date of the request, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, if immediate compliance is not possible.” The general mechanics are covered in our data practices request guide.
Two limits are student-specific. Section 13.32, subd. 4, denies a student access “as to financial records and statements of the student’s parents or any information contained therein” — the state analogue of § 1232g(a)(1)(C)(i). And once an individual has been shown private data and told its meaning, § 13.04, subd. 3, does not require disclosing it again for six months absent a pending dispute or newly collected data.
That six-month rule does not apply to a child with a disability. Section 13.32, subd. 10, is unambiguous: nothing in chapter 13 limits the frequency of inspection of the educational records of a child with a disability by the parent, guardian, or the child on reaching the age of majority; the agency “may not charge a fee to search for or to retrieve the educational records”; and a copying fee is not permitted “when to do so would impair the ability” of those persons to exercise the right to inspect and review.
To contest the content, § 13.04, subd. 4, supplies the state process — written notice of the disagreement, a 30-day response, disputed data released only with the individual’s statement of disagreement attached, and appeal to the commissioner of administration within 60 days as a contested case. Federal law at § 1232g(a)(2) conditions funds on an opportunity for a hearing “to challenge the content of such student’s education records.”
What is directory information, and what can a Minnesota school never designate as such?
Home address, telephone number, email address, and other personal contact information — for K–12. Section 13.32, subd. 5(a), makes designated directory information public “to the extent required under federal law,” and requires the designation to follow both the subdivision and 20 U.S.C. § 1232g and 34 C.F.R. § 99.37 “which were in effect on January 3, 2012.” That frozen date is worth noticing: the state statute pins the federal directory-information rules to a particular vintage. Paragraph (b) requires notice of the right to refuse designation, by any means reasonably likely to inform parents and students.
Paragraph (c) is the hard limit: “An educational agency or institution may not designate a student’s or parent’s home address, telephone number, email address, or other personal contact information as directory information under this subdivision. This paragraph does not apply to a postsecondary institution.” Paragraph (f) makes parent data private, treatable as directory information under the same procedures, except that a parent’s contact information may not be.
A separate provision reaches recruiters. Subdivision 5a requires a secondary institution to release the names, addresses, and home telephone numbers of grade 11 and 12 students to military recruiting officers within 60 days of a request, with notice of the right to refuse. The data may be used only to provide information about military service, veterans’ education benefits, and other career and educational opportunities provided by the military, and may not be further disseminated except to armed forces recruiting personnel.
Can a parent stop a juvenile justice request for a student’s record?
Yes — with a certified letter and ten days. Subdivision 8 separates two kinds of data. Paragraph (a) requires disclosure of a defined set on request: full name, home address, telephone number, date of birth, school schedule, daily attendance record, photographs if any, and parents’ names, addresses, and telephone numbers.
Paragraph (b) covers something narrower — the existence of data about controlled substance, alcohol, or tobacco use; assaultive or threatening conduct that could result in dismissal under § 121A.45, subd. 2, clause (b) or (c); possession or use of weapons or look-alike weapons; theft; and vandalism or other damage to property. The request must explain why access is necessary to serve the student.
Paragraph (c) is the veto. A principal or chief administrative officer receiving a paragraph (b) request must, to the extent permitted by federal law, notify the parent or guardian by certified mail before disclosing. If the parent objects within ten days of receiving that notice, “the principal or chief administrative officer must not disclose the information,” and must inform the requester of the objection.
Paragraph (d) limits what may be produced even absent an objection: only whether the described data exist, not the underlying data. No data need be created, and none protected by court order need be provided; the response is due within 14 days. Subdivision 9 prescribes the request form, and a false certification on it subjects the requester to the penalties in § 13.09.
What rules apply to school laptops and edtech vendors?
Stricter than most vendor contracts assume. Subdivision 13 states that educational data created, received, maintained, or disseminated pursuant or incidental to a technology provider’s contract “are not the technology provider’s property”; requires the provider to give the school everything needed to satisfy § 13.055 breach obligations; requires destruction or return of all educational data within 90 days of contract expiration unless renewal is reasonably anticipated; and bars any commercial purpose, “including but not limited to marketing or advertising to a student or parent.” Within 30 days of the start of each school year the school must give parents and students direct notice identifying each curriculum, testing, or assessment provider with access to educational data, and must let them inspect a complete copy of any such contract.
Subdivision 14 addresses the device. A government entity or technology provider “must not electronically access or monitor” any location-tracking feature, any audio or visual receiving, transmitting, or recording feature, or student interactions with the device “including but not limited to keystrokes and web-browsing activity” — subject to six exceptions in paragraph (b), and a 72-hour notice duty in paragraph (c) after the imminent-threat exception is used. Subdivision 15 exempts postsecondary institutions and their technology providers. For how chapter 13 relates to Minnesota’s other privacy statutes, see Minnesota’s three privacy regimes.
What happens when a school gets it wrong?
Minnesota supplies a private damages action; FERPA’s text supplies an administrative one. Under Minn. Stat. § 13.08, subd. 1, a responsible authority or government entity that violates any provision of chapter 13 is liable to a person who suffers damage, who “may bring an action against the responsible authority or government entity to cover any damages sustained, plus costs and reasonable attorney fees,” with exemplary damages “of not less than $1,000, nor more than $15,000 for each violation” where the violation is willful. Subdivision 2 authorizes an injunction; subdivision 4(a) authorizes an action to compel compliance, with costs and fees and a civil penalty up to $1,000. Section 13.09(a) makes a willful violation a misdemeanor.
Two immunities in § 13.32 cut against that: subdivision 7, for good-faith use and sharing of juvenile data under § 121A.75, and subdivision 8(f), which bars compensatory and exemplary damages, attorney fees, and § 13.09 penalties for good-faith responses under subdivision 8.
Federally, § 1232g(f) directs that “[t]he Secretary shall take appropriate actions to enforce this section and to deal with violations of this section,” with termination of assistance only where noncompliance cannot be cured voluntarily, and § 1232g(g) requires an office and review board to investigate and adjudicate complaints. Whether an individual may sue under FERPA is a question of federal case law this article does not address — § 13.08 is the remedy written into the law that governs a Minnesota public school’s data.
Madgett Law, LLC handles Minnesota data practices matters — including access requests, data-classification disputes, and challenges to the accuracy of government records — and consumer privacy litigation. If a Minnesota school has refused you access to your child’s record, disclosed it to someone who should not have had it, or asked you to sign an edtech consent you do not understand, send us a message or call 612-470-6529.
Sources: Minn. Stat. § 13.32 (2025 Minnesota Statutes, Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/13.32): subd. 1(a) (definition of “educational data” and the sole-possession, law enforcement unit, security-service, and student-employee exclusions, including the § 13.43, § 13.82, and § 13.861 cross-references); subd. 1(c) (definition of “parent”); subd. 1(d), (e), (g) (definitions of “school-issued device,” “student,” and “technology provider”); subd. 2(a)–(b) (health data and pupil census data as educational data; parental access via § 13.02, subd. 8); subd. 3 opening and clauses (a) through (s) — nineteen clauses, all enumerated in the article; subd. 4 (no student access to parents’ financial records); subd. 4a (nonpublic school students; disclosure only under subd. 3, clause (a), (b), (c), or (f)); subd. 5(a)–(c) and (f) (directory information; the January 3, 2012 federal-rule reference date; the notice-of-refusal requirement; the contact-information bar and its postsecondary carve-out; parent data); subd. 5a (military recruiting; grades 11 and 12; 60 days; notice of the right to refuse; the two use limits); subd. 7 (good-faith immunity for § 121A.75 sharing); subd. 8(a)–(d), (f), and (h) (juvenile justice access; the paragraph (a) data set; the paragraph (b) existence-only categories; certified-mail notice and the ten-day parental objection; the 14-day response; the good-faith immunity; penalties for false certification); subd. 9 (prescribed request form); subd. 10 (children with disabilities — inspection frequency, no search or retrieval fee, copy-fee limit); subd. 10a (designated individual at school conferences; consent form; withdrawal in writing); subd. 13(a)–(i) (technology providers — § 13.05, subd. 11; data not the provider’s property; § 13.055 breach cooperation; 90-day destruction or return; no sale, sharing, or dissemination; no commercial purpose; security-safeguard contract terms; 30-day annual notice; contract inspection); subd. 14(a)–(c) (school-issued devices — the three monitoring prohibitions, the six exceptions, and the 72-hour notice); subd. 15(a)–(b) (postsecondary and national assessment provider exemptions). Minn. Stat. § 13.02, subd. 8 (2025) (definition of “individual,” parental inclusion for minors, and the minor’s request to withhold on a best-interest determination). Minn. Stat. § 13.04 (2025): subd. 3 (right of access, content and meaning, copies at actual cost, the six-month rule, and the ten-business-day compliance deadline); subd. 4(a)–(d) (challenge to accuracy or completeness; 30-day response; statement of disagreement; 60-day appeal to the commissioner under the Administrative Procedure Act and the pre-hearing resolution efforts). Minn. Stat. § 13.08 (2025): subd. 1 (damages, costs and reasonable attorney fees; exemplary damages of not less than $1,000 nor more than $15,000 for each willful violation); subd. 2 (injunction); subd. 4(a) (action to compel compliance; costs and fees; civil penalty up to $1,000). Minn. Stat. § 13.09(a) (2025) (willful violation is a misdemeanor). Minn. Stat. § 645.451, subd. 2 (2025) (“‘Minor’ means an individual under the age of 18”), read with subd. 1 (application to any Minnesota statute unless a different meaning is specifically attached or the context clearly requires one). Federal law: 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, read at uscode.house.gov (Office of the Law Revision Counsel, granuleid USC-prelim-title20-section1232g), which states the text contains those laws in effect on August 9, 2026 — subsec. (a)(1)(A) (funding condition on parental inspection and review; the forty-five-day outer limit); (a)(1)(C)(i) (parents’ financial records not available to postsecondary students); (a)(2) (hearing to challenge content, correction or deletion, written parental explanation); (a)(4)(A)–(B) (definition of “education records” and its four exclusions); (b)(1) opening and (b)(1)(A) (written-consent funding condition; school officials with legitimate educational interests); (d) (transfer of rights at eighteen years of age or on attending an institution of postsecondary education); (f) (Secretary’s enforcement and the limits on terminating assistance); (g) (office and review board). 34 C.F.R. part 99 is named only as the FERPA implementing regulation, on the strength of the specific part 99 sections § 13.32 itself cross-references (§§ 99.31–99.37, 99.39); no regulatory text was retrieved or relied on. Code of Federal Regulations title 32, section 216; 20 U.S.C. § 1092; 42 U.S.C. § 14071; and Minn. Stat. §§ 13.03, 13.05, 13.055, 13.43, 13.82, 13.861, 120A.24, 121A.031, 121A.45, 121A.75, 124D.52, 125A.08, 260B.171, 260E, and 524.5-102 are named only as cross-references appearing within the quoted or paraphrased Minnesota text; their contents were not independently pulled and nothing is asserted about them.
Currency note: §§ 13.32, 13.02, 13.08, 13.09, 645.451, and 645.02 were each retrieved on 2026-08-10 and none returned a 2026 currency banner. Section 13.04 DID return a banner — subdivision 4a was amended by Laws 2026, chapter 95, article 1, section 2. That amendment inserts “or a delegee” into the process for challenging data maintained by the Direct Care and Treatment sex offender program; the session law text was read at revisor.mn.gov/laws/, section 2 carries no effective-date clause, and under Minn. Stat. § 645.02 the default is “August 1 next following its final enactment.” It does not touch subdivisions 2, 3, or 4 of § 13.04, which are the only subdivisions this article relies on. No case law, state or federal, is cited in this article.
This article is general legal information about Minnesota and federal law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney–client relationship. Whether a particular record is educational data, who may see it, and what a school must produce depend on facts this article does not know. No outcome is promised or implied.