ACTION ITEMS
Many things make your district and school great, and we want to help highlight your strengths on the Minnesota Report Card. The website currently displays a variety of data on each district or school in Minnesota, including enrollment, graduation and proficiency rates and more. Beginning December 2018, the report card’s My School tab will include a section for schools to highlight information that may not be captured in the data.
Enter My School narratives for each of your schools into the District and School Site Verification system by October 31, 2018.
Each district and charter school has an Identified Official with Authority (IOwA) who has access to update your My School messages in the system. When displayed on the Minnesota Report Card, there will be a short disclaimer indicating that this information was submitted by the district or school. While we will review the content for typographical errors, we will rely on schools to provide information that is well-written, appropriate, accurate and relevant to the community. View an example of where the My School message will appear on the report card.
You have a maximum of 1,200 characters to describe your school. This is your opportunity to tell your school’s story. What makes your school stand out to your students and families? What are the values of your school that tell the public how you approach providing an excellent education to all students? View examples of statements on the My School instructions.
If you have questions about the My School message, please contact us at mde.communications@state.mn.us.
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Each year on October 1, as part of Minnesota’s compulsory instruction requirements, nonpublic schools, including educators of both private and homeschool students, are responsible for reporting to the superintendent of the district in which the student resides. If the superintendent does not receive this report, or it appears from the report that the student is receiving instruction in violation of Minnesota’s compulsory instruction requirements (Minn. Stat. §§ 120A.22 or 120A.24), the superintendent must notify the student’s parent, specifically listing the alleged violations. If the alleged violation(s) is not corrected within 15 days of the parent’s receipt of the District notification, the superintendent must request fact-finding and mediation services from MDE. Minn. Stat. § 120A.26, subd. 4
For more information about your school district’s obligations under the compulsory instruction statutes, please visit the Compulsory Instruction Compliance Data Reporting webpage, or contact Liz Stoneburg (651-582-8235).
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When communicating immunization expectations, this is a reminder that schools are required to communicate exemption information on the same part as immunization information. Immunization Rule 4604.0400: “…schools must use the Department of Health's official record form or a similar document approved by the commissioner of health when communicating to parents or guardians regarding immunization requirements and exemption procedures.”
Here are some additional suggestions for schools:
- Use the Minnesota Dept. of Health Student Immunization Form as it meets the law requirements for all information.
- When sending written communication, we recommend using the following sentence in the opening paragraph to ensure the requirements are clear:
“Minnesota law requires children enrolled in school to be immunized against certain diseases or file a legal medical or conscientious exemption.”
- We suggest avoiding the phrase “No Shots, No School” because it is not accurate. And, make sure all of your forms and resources posted on your website (or used in a handbook) are the current and up-to-date MDH versions.
- If providing links for additional information, add the MDH Immunization page, Minnesota Department of Health Immunization Resources.
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ITEMS OF INTEREST
Active Schools Minnesota, a partnership between the Minnesota Department of Education, Minnesota Department of Health, and the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership, has released a new training video series for active recess. The series is intended for anyone who has recess supervision responsibilities and focuses on supervision best practices. The videos include guiding questions for viewers. Content of the videos include an introduction to active recess, building positive playground expectations, mapping the playground, and taking recess inside. Each video is approximately five minutes in length. Access the Active Recess video series.
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The Minnesota Department of Education has funding available under Minnesota Laws 2017, 1st Special Session, Chapter 5, Article 2, sec. 57, subd. 23., for districts to:
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Pathway I: Provide grants for tuition scholarships or stipends to school district employees or community members affiliated with a school district (participants) for a Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board approved nonconventional teacher residency pilot program established under Minnesota Statutes, section 122A.09, subdivision 10, paragraph (a); or
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Pathway II: Develop innovative GYO programs that encourage secondary school students to pursue teaching, including developing and offering dual-credit post-secondary “Introduction to Teaching” or “Introduction to Education” courses in schools consistent with Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.09, subdivision 10.
NOTE: Each pathway will be judged and scored independently of one another. Grants will be awarded as a single amount, but each pathway will be tracked separately.
Eligible applicants are any public school districts or charter schools with more than 30 percent minority students.
Grant periods will be from December 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019.
Application information is available on MDE’s grant opportunity site.
Applications must be submitted, via email, no later than October 12, 2018, 3:30 p.m. Central time, to the designated email box at MDE.CompGrants@state.mn.us. Please see the instruction document for further submission information.
Contact Elia Dimayuga-Bruggeman (651-582-8440) for further information.
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The Minnesota Department of Education will be offering regional trainings across the state regarding the 2018 Minnesota Physical Education Standards between January and June 2019. In this training, actions and resources are recommended to help educator teams develop a shared understanding of the new physical education standards and grade-level benchmarks and initiate the curriculum review process. Get more information, training dates and registration process on the MDE Health and Physical Education website.
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