DRAFT 1.1 • PARENT KIT • Audience: Minnesota parents and guardians
Four practical tools for reviewing what your child is taught
Be specific. Name the unit, slide deck, text, benchmark, project, video, or assignment you want reviewed.
The strongest request is usually not “explain why you teach DEI” or “remove ethnic studies.” Ask for the identifiable material, the benchmark, the grading rule, or the board vote you want addressed.
1. Curriculum review and alternative-instruction letter
Use this when you want to review a specific curriculum item and ask how the district’s process under Minn. Stat. §120B.20 applies.
Subject: Curriculum review and alternative-instruction request
I am requesting review of the following specific curriculum material or activity: [name the unit, lesson, slide deck, text, benchmark, project, video, or assignment].
Please provide access to the existing instructional material reasonably necessary for me to understand what my child is being asked to read, view, discuss, produce, or affirm. If the material is digital, please include the relevant digital lesson, slide presentation, linked resource, or equivalent review access.
I am also requesting information about the district process for alternative instruction under Minn. Stat. §120B.20 as it applies to this specific material. Please identify the district contact, required steps, timing, and available alternative-instruction process.
My request is limited to the item identified above. I am not asking the district to explain motives or create new records.
2. Request existing district records
Use the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act to request existing records. Ask for documents, not an explanation of why the district made a decision.
Subject: Request for existing public records
I request access to or copies of the following existing records concerning [name the specific program, unit, vendor, grade, or initiative] for [date range]:
1. Existing unit plans, pacing documents, or lesson outlines.
2. Existing vendor contracts, statements of work, purchase orders, or licensing agreements.
3. Existing professional-development agendas, presentation materials, or training handouts.
4. Existing grading rubrics, required student tasks, or assessment criteria.
5. Existing lists or inventories of recurring outside instructional resources used for the identified program or unit.I am requesting existing records, not answers to questions. If any record is withheld or redacted, please identify the legal basis that applies.
Download the records-request template
3. “Quote the benchmark” card
Ask four questions:
- What exact Minnesota standard or benchmark is this assignment intended to teach?
- Please quote or link the benchmark.
- What student work proves mastery of that benchmark?
- If the assignment asks for advocacy, organizing, personal belief, or sensitive self-disclosure, which part of the benchmark requires that method?
4. Two-minute board comment
Chair and board members, I am asking for one recorded yes-or-no vote.
The specific item is [unit / slide deck / benchmark / vendor / policy]. My request is [state one action].
Please require the district to identify the competency, evidence, affected grades, instructional time, cost, student task, grading rule, and what instruction is displaced.
I am not asking the board to ban difficult history or decide what students must believe. I am asking the board to make the material visible and grade students on knowledge and reasoning.
Will you vote yes or no on [specific motion]?
Three references to keep open
Status: Draft tools for public use; not legal advice and not adopted law. Name the specific material or benchmark and follow the district’s current process.
