Public Schools, Including Charter Schools
Minnesota has an “open-enrollment” policy. That means a child can be enrolled in a school inside or outside of the school district in which the family lives. In either case, a Safe at Home participant family is only required to disclose the school district in which the family resides. A Safe at Home participant family cannot be required to disclose their actual address. If a particular school is full and a family does not reside within the neighborhood boundaries of that school, a child can be denied enrollment at that school. This is true for any family in the state of Minnesota. If a school has an issue of overcrowding and a Safe at Home participant family does reside within the neighborhood boundaries of the school, in addition to disclosing their school district, a Safe at Home family will need to disclose to the school that they live within the school’s neighborhood boundaries. Again, a Safe at Home participant family cannot be required to disclose their actual address.
Non-Public Schools
Minnesota law requires all entities to accept a Safe at Home address as a participant’s address. A nonpublic school may request to know the school district where a Safe at Home participant family resides, but the family cannot be required to disclose their actual address.
Student Directory Information
Student Directory Information is information public schools have about their students, such as names, addresses, birthdates, etc. The exact data included varies by school district. Student directory Information is classified as public data. As an added safety measure, Safe at Home participants should always opt out of student directory information.
Transferring Student Records
By law, Safe at Home can transfer a student record from a child’s old school to their new school at the request of the parent or guardian. The request must be made through the Safe at Home office.
School Transportation
Bus companies must abide by state law. Therefore, they cannot require a Safe at Home family to disclose their real address. For questions and concerns about bus transportation, call the Safe at Home office at 651-201-1399.