Parent and Guardian Rights

  • Parents and guardians have the right to decline or withdraw their student from EL services. Participation is voluntary. A parent or guardian can inform the district of their wish to withdraw or decline EL services by directly contacting the school or signing the initial or continuing EL placement notification. Once the district is aware of the parent or guardian’s wish to decline or withdraw from EL program services, EL staff will inform the parents/guardians of the benefits of English language development services. Once the district is aware of the decline of English language services, the district sends out an official district letter for parents or guardians to sign acknowledging their request. Parents/guardians can request that their child return to EL services if there is still a need for additional services in English language development, in accordance with Minnesota Department of Education guidelines. 

    Parents and guardians must reaffirm decline services annually.  Currently, these letters are available in English only, district employees are available for oral interpretation so that the information is accessible. The decline letters are scanned annually into the student’s cumulative file with the district. Parents and guardians do have the option to elect that their student(s) do not complete ACCESS. To request this, the parent or guardian must contact the school directly. This request must be reaffirmed annually.