MDE Weekly Superintendent Mail - 2-13-20

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Weekly Briefing for Superintendents and School Leaders

February 13, 2020

In this edition

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Grow Your Own Competitive Grant Opportunity – Pathway 1 and Pathway 2 – FY21

The documentation for the Grow Your Own competitive grant opportunity is now available. This includes the instructions, application, budget documentation for both pathways and a list of the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board-approved nonconventional teacher training residency programs. Information and resources are available on Minnesota Department of Education Competitive Grant Opportunities webpage.

Pathway 1 funds are for paraprofessionals to pursue teacher licensure. Pathway 2 funds are for programming for secondary students to explore teaching careers. 

Please see the grant instructions for the specific, allowable outcomes for this grant program. 

For further information, contact Tyler Livingston.

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Sharing of Student Meal Eligibility Data for ACT Fee Waivers

The Nutrition, Health and Youth Development office has received a number of questions about sharing free and reduced-price meal eligibility data with school staff who submit ACT fee waiver requests. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), this information is confidential as defined in federal regulation and is not public under Minnesota law and can be shared only with parental consent. This can be acquired through a Household Confidentiality Waiver. For additional information, please review Section 5: Confidentiality and Disclosure (starting on Page 81) of the USDA Eligibility Manual for School Meals.

Additional guidance for the 2021 school year is being developed which will facilitate information being shared for this purpose. Please direct your questions to the Nutrition, Health and Youth Development toll free phone line at 1-800-366-8922.

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School Finance Director Announcement

After a 40-year career in school finance at the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), Tom Melcher retired on February 4 from the position of School Finance Director. He will continue to work part-time at MDE for the next year to assist with the transition to new division leadership, and to support the work of the Commissioner's school finance working group. 

Terri Yetter has accepted the position of School Finance Director effective February 5, 2020. Terri started at MDE about 30 years ago and most recently served as the Assistant Director of the School Finance Division. In addition to a Master of Arts with concentrations in public finance and economic analysis, Terri brings extensive experience in school finance policy, budget and systems. Prior to joining MDE, Terri worked for the Iowa Legislative Fiscal Bureau as a legislative fiscal analyst for education funding committees.

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Monthly Calls with Superintendents and Charter School Leaders

On this month’s call, Commissioner Ricker announced a new format for the monthly calls that will include regional calls. Stay tuned for the full schedule of regional and state-wide calls.

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