Minnesota Statue requires that the school district provides annual notification to district residents and students regarding the topics contained in this section. If you have any questions regarding these items, please contact the identified personnel or the District Office at 729-9313.

The District's Human Rights' Officer is the Superintendent of Schools
Wayne Whitwam
wwhitwam@isd700.org
218-729-9313

LINKS

• 2022-23 Assessment Calendar

  • Assessment Calendar Descriptions

• 2021-22 World's Best Workforce Report

• Lead in Water Testing Results

• Parent/Guardian Guide and Refusal for Student Participation in Statewide Testing 

• Career and Technical Education Opportunities Annual Notification

• ESSER III Spending Plans

NOTICES

• AHERA Annual Asbestos Notification 

• Notice of Use of Pesticides

  • In 2000, a Minnesota State Law went into effect that requires schools to inform employees, students, and parents of scheduled pesticide applications. The estimated schedule of application is available for review by employees and parents in the office of the Director of Buildings and Grounds.
    
    State Law also requires that employees and parents be informed that the long-term health effects on children due to the application of such pesticides, or the class of chemicals to which they belong, may not be fully understood.
    
    For more information regarding the Hermantown Integrated Pest Management program, including the pesticide application schedule, please feel free to call the Director of Buildings and Grounds at 218-626-6003.

• Indoor Air Quality

  • Hermantown School District is proud to be taking a leadership role in providing a safe, comfortable and productive environment for our students and staff so that we achieve our core mission—educating students. Our school will follow the EPA guidance to improve our indoor air quality by preventing as many IAQ problems as possible, and by quickly responding to any IAQ problems that may arise. Good air quality requires an ongoing commitment by everyone in our school, because each of us daily makes decisions and performs activities that affect the quality of the air we breathe.
    
    School staff, students and parents can obtain checklists or self-help information so they can properly evaluate their child’s home or other out of school situation by contacting the school. Staff and parents can also obtain information about school facility construction, maintenance and housekeeping practices, chemicals used, mold and HVAC related information, chemical producing academic subjects, and pesticide and herbicide applications to determine the extent to which school activities contribute to a child’s symptoms by contacting the school.
    
    The Hermantown School District Indoor Air Quality contact person is the Director of Buildings and Grounds. If there are any questions regarding the school’s IAQ Program, please feel free to call 218-626-6003.

• Notice to Home School Parents

  • Minnesota Statutes 120A.22 - 120A.26 and 121A.15 require the person in charge of providing instruction to a child to submit the Minnesota Compulsory Instruction Report to the superintendent of the school district in which the student resides. The report is available from the Minnesota Department of Education. 

• Notice to Non-Custodial Parents/Guardians

  • Non-custodial parents should contact the school district in which their child is attending to update contact information. Educational records and regular communication such as report cards and conference notices can only be delivered if accurate contact information has been provided by the parent.

• Notice of Background Checks

  • Applicants for school district positions who receive an offer of employment and all individuals who are offered the opportunity to lead co-curricular or extra-curricular activities in the district, regardless of whether any compensation is paid, submit to a criminal history background check.  These are conducted by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA). The District also reserves the right to conduct additional background checks with other agencies.

• Post Secondary Enrollment Option

  • Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) PSEO is a program that allows students in 10th, 11th and 12th grades earn both high school and college credit while still in high school, through enrollment in and successful completion of college-level, nonsectarian courses at eligible participating postsecondary institutions.

    Most PSEO courses are offered on the campus of the postsecondary institution; some courses are offered online. Each participating college or university sets its own requirements for enrollment into the PSEO courses. Eleventh and 12th-grade students may take PSEO courses on a full- or part-time basis; 10th graders may take one career/technical PSEO course. If they earn at least a grade C in that class, they may take additional PSEO courses. There is no charge to PSEO students for tuition, books or fees for items that are required to participate in a course. Students must meet the PSEO residency and eligibility requirements and abide by participation limits specified in Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.09.

    If a school district determines a student is not on track to graduate, she/he may continue to participate in PSEO. Funds are available to help pay transportation expenses for qualifying students to participate in PSEO courses on college campuses. Schools must provide up-to-date information to all students in grades 8-11 and their families by March 1, every year. Students must notify their school by May 30 if they want to participate in PSEO for the following school year.

    MDE's Link to PSEO information. 

  • Hermantown juniors and seniors have the option of enrolling in post-high school institutions in the state of Minnesota to earn high school credit. There is no cost for tuition and books for students to attend through this program. To attend the College of St. Scholastica, students must be juniors with a 3.5 GPA or seniors with a 3.0 GPA and apply by May 1 for fall semester and December 1 for spring semester. CSS reserves the right to accept fewer than 40 students in a given year. To attend UM-Duluth, a student must be a junior with a 3.5 GPA or senior with a 3.0 GPA. and apply by June 1 for fall semester and December 1 for second semester. Juniors and seniors may also attend Lake Superior College. Juniors must rank in the top 34% of their class or have a 3.0 GPA and seniors must rank in the top 50% of their class or have a 2.5 GPA in order to apply. Students must notify Hermantown High School of their intent to apply and complete the application by May 30 for fall semester 2023 and apply by January 5, 2024 for spring semester. Students may need to take the Accuplacer Test at Lake Superior College for some course placements and depending on their academic ranking and GPA. All PSEO college credits transfer to the high school with four semester credits being the equivalent of one high school credit. All final grades earned through this program will be transferred to a student's high school record and will be used to compute grade point average and class rank. Students need to plan early and need to be responsible, committed, and self-directed learners. A parent interview with a high school counselor is expected for students planning to enroll in a PSEO program. Contact your child’s counselor at the high school for an appointment.

• Special Service Programs

  • Support is provided to students through a full range of special service programs. Students with special needs may be provided services in the regular classroom, through individualized instruction in a resource room, in special classes, in special day schools, or in residential schools, homes, or hospitals.

    A team of regular and special education personnel works with parents to determine the type of education; best suited to meet the learner's individual needs.  For those students who qualify, an individualized educational plan is developed cooperatively between parents and school staff.

    State of Minnesota and Federal Funds (including Public Law 108-446, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2003) are used to help support these special programs.  Parents and community members may review applications, reports, and evaluations of district activities supported by these funds.

    For general information, or if you suspect that your child (age birth to 21) may be in need of special services, contact your child's school principal or the district special education coordinator at 879-1283.

• Handling of Student Records

  • Independent School District No. 700 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 are hereby informed that they have the following rights:

1. That a parent or eligible student has a right to inspect and review the student’s education records. A parent or eligible student should submit to the school district a written request to inspect education records which identify as precisely as possible the record or records he or she wishes to inspect. The parent or eligible student will be notified of the time and place where the records may be inspected;

2. That the parent or eligible student has a right to 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. A parent or eligible student may ask the school district to amend a record that they believe is inaccurate or misleading. The request shall be in writing, shall identify the item the parent or eligible student believes to be inaccurate, misleading or in violation of the privacy or other rights of the student, shall state the reason for this belief, and shall specify the correction the parent or eligible student wishes the school district to make. The request shall be signed by the parent or eligible student. If the school district decides not to amend the record as requested by the parent or eligible student, the school district will notify the parent or eligible student of the decision and advise him or her of the right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the parent or eligible student when notified of the right to a hearing;

3. That the parent or eligible student has a right to 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;

4. That the school district may disclose education records to other school officials within the school district if the school district has determined they have legitimate educational interests. For purposes of such disclosure, a “school official” is a person employed by the school district as an administrator, supervisor, instructor, or support staff member (including health or medical staff and law enforcement unit personnel) or other employee; a person serving on the school board; a person or company with whom the school district has consulted to perform a specific task (such as an attorney, auditor, medical consultant, therapist, public information officer or data practices compliance official); or a parent or student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee; or any individual assisting a school official in the performance of his or her tasks. A school official has a “legitimate educational interest” if the individual needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility and includes, but is not limited to, an interest directly related to classroom instruction, teaching, student achievement and progress, discipline of a student and student health and welfare and the ability to respond to a request for educational data;

5. That the school district forwards education records on request to a school in which a student seeks or intends to enroll, including information about disciplinary action taken as a result of any incident in which the student possessed or used a dangerous weapon and any disposition order which adjudicates the student as delinquent for committing an illegal act on school district property and certain other illegal acts;

6. That the parent or eligible student has a right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education regarding an alleged failure by the school district to comply with the requirements of 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, and the rules promulgated thereunder, the name and address of the office that administers the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act is: Family Policy Compliance Office, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20202-4605

7. That the parent or eligible student has a right to obtain a copy of the school district’s policy regarding the protection and privacy of pupil records; and

8. That copies of the school district’s policy regarding the protection and privacy of school records are located in the District Office, at 4307 Ugstad Road.
   

• Independent School District No. 700 has adopted a school board policy in order to comply with state and federal laws regarding education records. The policy does the following:

  • It classifies records as public, private or confidential. 

  • It establishes procedures and regulations to permit parents or students to inspect and review a student’s education records. These procedures include the method of determining fees for copies, a listing of the locations of these education records, and the identity of the individuals in charge of the records.

  • It establishes procedures and regulations to allow parents or students to request the amendment of a student’s education records to ensure that the records are not inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student’s privacy or other rights.

  • It establishes procedures and regulations for access to and disclosure of education records.

  • It establishes procedures and regulations for safeguarding the privacy of education records and for obtaining prior written consent of the parent or student when required prior to disclosure.

  • Copies of the school board policy and accompanying procedures and regulations are available to parents and students upon written request to the Superintendent.

• Pursuant to applicable law, Independent School District No. 700 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: the student’s name; address; telephone number; electronic mail address; 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, address and telephone number of the student’s parent(s). “Directory information” does not include identifying information on a student’s religion, race, color, social position or nationality.

1. The information listed above shall be public information, which the school district may disclose from the education records of a student, or information regarding a parent.

2. Should the parent of a student or the student so desire, any or all of the listed information will not be disclosed without the parent’s or eligible student’s prior written consent, except to school officials as provided under federal law.

3. In order to make any or all of the directory information listed above “private” (i.e. subject to consent prior to disclosure), the parent or eligible student must make a written request to the building principal within thirty (30) days after the date of the last publication of this notice. this written request must include the following information:

   • Name of student and parent, as appropriate;

   • Home address;

   • School presently attended by student;

   • Parent’s legal relationship 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.

• Notice to Parents Regarding Technology Providers

  • Independent School District No. 700 gives notice to parents of students currently in attendance in the District of contracts with technology providers regarding curriculum, testing or assessment. A technology provider is defined in the law as a person who provides a school-issued device for student use and through the device's hardware or software, creates, receives, or maintains educational data on students in public schools and educational agencies or institutions.