Maple Plain families: Anonymous school threat reporting starts July 1, 2026—Orono deadlines

Minnesota’s statewide anonymous school threat reporting requirement took effect July 1, 2026. For Maple Plain families, that means the local district serving your community—Orono Public Schools (ISD 278)—has legally required milestones coming up for how families can share safety concerns.

What changed on July 1, 2026

Minnesota law requires public school districts and charter schools to use an anonymous threat reporting system for certain safety concerns connected to school property or to enrolled students and school personnel. The law’s goal is to make it easier for students and families to share information without identifying themselves upfront.

What kinds of concerns can be reported anonymously?

The local system (if a district chooses the local option) is required to receive anonymous tips about dangerous, violent, threatening, harmful, or potentially harmful activity that occurs or is threatened on school property, or that relates to an enrolled student or school personnel.

Orono’s local duties: two key deadlines

The law sets two deadlines that families should watch as Orono works through compliance:

• By June 30, 2027: The Orono school board must adopt a policy (at a school board meeting) to implement an anonymous threat reporting system, and inform the commissioner of education which option the district selected.
• By July 1, 2028: Orono must have the anonymous threat reporting system in place—either through a local system or by using the statewide anonymous threat reporting system.

If Orono uses a local system, what’s required?

For districts that implement their own local anonymous threat reporting system, Minnesota requires the system to:

• Support anonymous reporting 24 hours a day using a mobile application, website, and a toll-free hotline.
• Immediately forward reported information to designated school staff, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), and local law enforcement as soon as practicable.
• Designate staff to receive and respond to reports, including required training on coordinating responses with the BCA and local law enforcement.
• Promote public awareness by posting information on the district website, including it in the student handbook, and notifying parents annually.

If Orono uses the statewide system, what’s required?

If Orono does not run its own local system that meets the local requirements, the law requires the district to provide information to students, families, employees, and the school community about the Department of Public Safety’s statewide anonymous threat reporting system—including:

• Posting information on the district website
• Including information in the student handbook
• Notifying parents annually

What Maple Plain families should do now

• Watch for Orono communications: the law requires district website posting, student-handbook updates, and annual parent notifications about whichever option is used.
• Know what the system is for: it’s meant for anonymous reporting of potentially dangerous or harmful activity connected to school property or school community members.
• Follow Orono’s final instructions when they arrive: your specific next step (and the exact tool to use, if local is chosen) will be confirmed through Orono’s policy and required communications.

The statewide requirement began on July 1, 2026, but the major local milestones—Orono’s policy deadline in 2027 and system deadline in 2028—are still ahead.

Sources

• Minnesota Session Law Chapter 117 (anonymous threat reporting system)
• City of Maple Plain: Schools & Community Education (Maple Plain within Orono ISD 278)
• Orono ISD 278: About Us (communities served incl. Maple Plain)
• FOX 9: Minnesota school anonymous threat reporting law begins July 1