August 25, 2020

Special Education/COVID-19 Update #21

COVID-19 Information on Website Updated

The guidance on COVID-19 and special education posted to the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) COVID-19 Updates and MDE Special Education webpages has been updated. MDE staff will continue to collect questions and provide answers in these documents, which we plan to update as needed. Notification of these updates will be via this special education directors' listserv, and may appear in communication with superintendents and charter school leaders.

Before contacting MDE staff with questions on this topic, please refer to these compiled documents to see if your questions have been answered. Note that you may need to refresh your Internet browser and/or clear your browser cache to see the very latest versions of these documents. Thank you for all you do for students receiving special education services in Minnesota.

New document on special education finance:

• Special Education Staff Assigned to Other Work Areas: guidance on fiscal procedures, maintenance of effort (MOE), new codes and implications for Alternative Delivery of Specialized Instructional Services (ADSIS).

Revised guidance on special education instruction, services, programming, funding and resources:

• Added question and answer clarifying paraprofessional roles in light of recent guidance from the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB).

New and revised guidance on Part C early childhood special education:

• Early Care and Education Guidance and Frequently Asked Questions for the 2020-21 School Year: guidance including fees, ratings, learning models, masks, social distancing and screening.
• MDE 2020-21 Planning Guidance for Minnesota Public Schools: revised to include guidance on early childhood special education; see Page 81.