Privacy Policy

Information We Collect

PlainSchools measures its traffic with two tools. Umami sets no cookies and records no personal information: it counts visits per page, where traffic comes from and the kind of device. Google Analytics 4 uses cookies and records pseudonymous identifiers (a device identifier and an approximate location derived from the IP address) under Google's privacy policy. Advertising cookies are set by the ad network named below. In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland nothing but security storage is set until you choose in the consent banner, and Google Analytics and advertising follow that choice. Elsewhere measurement runs by default and advertising cookies follow the ad network's rules; in the U.S. you can opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information through the ad network's privacy choices.

Cookies & Tracking

PlainSchools does not set first-party cookies. Third-party services used on this site may set cookies:

  • Journey by Mediavine - uses cookies to serve ads based on your visits.
  • Cloudflare - may set security cookies (__cf_bm) to distinguish humans from bots.
  • Google Analytics (GA4) - uses cookies to measure traffic and usage.

Your light/dark theme preference is stored in localStorage, which never leaves your device.

Advertising

We display advertisements through Journey by Mediavine. Mediavine uses CONSENTMANAGER as its consent management platform. Mediavine and its advertising partners may use cookies and web beacons to serve ads based on your prior visits. You can opt out of personalized advertising at Mediavine opt-out or aboutads.info.

Cookies We Use

  • Strictly necessary - required for the site to function.
  • Analytics - traffic measurement: Google Analytics 4 (cookies, pseudonymous identifiers) and Umami (no cookies).
  • Advertising - set by Journey by Mediavine and partner ad networks.
  • Functional - remember your preferences (dark mode, language).

Data Sources

All data displayed on this site comes from publicly available school data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data. No private or proprietary data is used. No personally identifiable information from these datasets is stored or displayed.

Editorial Independence

Profiles and articles on PlainSchools are compiled by PlainSchools directly from official source data: raw NCES files are transformed into readable profiles and validated against the source before publication. No school, district, state, or education company can pay to appear or to change how its figures are shown. PlainSchools accepts no sponsorship or promoted placement, and is supported solely by contextual Journey by Mediavine advertising, which does not influence which schools we cover or how the federal data is presented.

Third-Party Services

Your Rights (GDPR / CCPA)

  • Know what data is collected about you
  • Request access, correction, or deletion of your data
  • Opt out of personalized advertising (see Advertising section)
  • Use browser privacy features or ad blockers to limit tracking
  • Lodge a complaint with your supervisory authority

EEA visitors may be presented with a consent dialog. California residents may opt out under CCPA.

Data Retention

Google Analytics keeps event data for at most 14 months, the longest standard setting it offers; Umami keeps only aggregate counts. Advertising cookies follow Journey by Mediavine's standard retention policy. To exercise your rights, contact us via our Contact page.

Children's Privacy

PlainSchools does not knowingly collect information from children under 13.

Contact

Questions about this privacy policy: hello@plainschools.com. For legal correspondence: hello@plainschools.com. We may update this policy from time to time, changes will be posted on this page with an updated date.

Download the compiled NCES state extract: plainschools-state-summary.csv (same extract as /statistics).

Who Publishes This

PlainSchools is published by Kiznis Studio, an independent studio that builds data sites with AI agents working under rules set by its one operator. The agents load the federal files and write the code and the text; scripted checks keep each page's figures consistent with each other and within plausible bounds before it is published. To ask about a school's numbers, report an error or reach the publisher for any other reason, write to hello@plainschools.com.