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June 18, 2021
Updates in this email:
The Minnesota Department of Education tracks student demographic information through two different methods. Under the state definition, students self-identify as American Indian or Alaska Native. This includes students from any tribe in North America, whether or not they also share heritage with other races or ethnicities. Under the federal definition, any student who selects more than one racial identity is listed as “Two or More Races.” Through this method, a student who belongs to a tribe but also has another racial identity is counted as “Two or More Races” and is not included in the American Indian group.
Last fall, MDE launched the American Indian Student Achievement Report in our Data Center, which houses data for students identified as American Indian under state law. The 2020 graduation rates have now been added to this report. To access the graduation rates for American Indian students by the state definition, visit the American Indian Student Achievement Report, then select 2020 in the "Year" drop-down menu and Graduation in the "Report" drop-down menu. Then, click Download File.
In 2020, American Indian students saw an increase in their four-year graduation rate over the previous year, both by the state and federal definitions. Based on the state definition, the four-year rate increased by 2.2 percentage points for a graduation rate of 58.3%. By the federal definition, the four-year rate increased 4.9 percentage points for a rate of 55.7%.
Due to the extension of Minnesota's deadline to submit our plan, we have reopened the public comment survey which closed on June 1. The survey will now be open through 4 p.m. on Monday, June 21. See additional information below:
On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021 was enacted into law which includes $1.3 billion for E-12 education in Minnesota to help schools returning to, and maintaining, safe in-person learning for all students. Per the federal law, 90% of these funds have been allocated to eligible districts and charter schools. Another 9.5% of these funds are for flexible use by each state education agency to create a plan to meet the needs of students. As a result, MDE is asking for feedback and input on how the 9.5% could be used. A form is being used to collect feedback in English, Hmong, Somali and Spanish. Additional information is also available in Hmong, Karen, Somali and Spanish. Feedback in Karen can be emailed to mde.federalcovidfunds@state.mn.us. The public comment period ends on June 21.
Please note, this public comment does not apply to the ARP's State Fiscal Recovery Fund. Those funds are separate from Minnesota’s $1.3 billion in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER III) funds under the ARP.
There have been many questions about the federally-required Safe Return to In-Person Learning Plan. As a condition of accepting the ESSER III award (FIN160 & FIN161), the LEA must develop, with community input, a Safe Return to In-Person Learning Plan and post it for public comment. The plan and a summary of the public comment must be posted on the LEA website within 30 days of receiving the ESSER III award (the due date for Minnesota LEAs is June 21, 2021).
The requirements for the ESSER III Safe Return to In-Person Learning Plan can be found in the Interim Final Rule and must describe how “[the LEA] will maintain the health and safety of students, educators, and other staff and the extent to which it has adopted policies, and a description of any such policies, on each of the following safety recommendations established by the CDC.”
With the 2020-21 Minnesota Safe Learning Plan, Minnesota LEAs created local Safe Learning Plans to help guide operations and response to COVID-19 throughout the school year. These plans should have been developed in partnership with the local incident command team or advisory council consisting of school board members, bargaining units, staff, students and families (page 9).
The recent FAQ document from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) highlighted in A-4: “[a]n LEA that developed a school reopening and continuity of services plan prior to the date of enactment of the ARP Act and that meets the above requirements for public comment will be deemed in compliance but, within no more than six months, the LEA must review and, if necessary, revise the plan to meet the requirements of the interim final requirements.”
Local Safe Learning Plans that were created for the 2020-21 school year can be used to fulfill this federal requirement, knowing that your plans will likely change based on forthcoming fall 2021 guidance/recommendations from MDH. These plans should be posted to the district or charter school website by the June 21 deadline along with a summary of comments obtained when the plan was created, if any comments were received by the LEA.
This process should be considered and followed as LEAs plan for the upcoming 2021-22 school year and ongoing, on a six month cycle. In the future, LEAs must retain and post documentation of the plan development, plan review, public comment, and summary of public comment.
If your LEA is in the process of compiling your 2021-22 plan, these plans and a summary of public comments will need to be posted to the district website by the June 21 deadline. There are many resources you can use to help you put your plan together:
Email mde.federalCOVIDfunds@state.mn.us with questions.
Aligning Career Pathways II - Getting Started
The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) is hosting a follow up event to the networking opportunity held in March. This webinar will focus on required and ideal ingredients to create effective and in-demand career pathways.
The event will take place Wednesday, June 23, 1 – 2:30 pm.
Cameron Macht, Assistant Director of the Labor Market Information Office of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), will speak about the use of Labor Market Information (LMI) as a starting point for building localized career pathways. We will then hear from a number of presenters – Brooks Dirtzu from Real Time Talent on using data for career pathway planning; Kate Beech, Eric Billiet, and Shelli Sowles from MDE will share resources and supports for developing career pathways.
This is the second in a series of quarterly training opportunities for schools and community partners who are or will be working toward career pathways programs. Further sessions will be offered in Fall 2021.
No preregistration required, click here to join the meeting or contact Tim Barrett, 651-582-8677, for further information.
New Capitalized Lease Approval Process
MDE is working to continually update its processes to meet the needs of school districts in Minnesota. The School Finance division will be implementing a more formalized process for approving the Capital Lease levy authority (acquiring ownership) under Minnesota Statutes, section 126C.40, subdivision 1. The new approval process will begin with the Pay 2022 levy cycle. The updated approval process only applies to capital leases seeking authorization in the Payable 2022 levy. If a districts has a capital lease that has already been approved, additional information will not be required for submittal. Operating lease approval process will remain the same. On the MDE website, a new memo has been posted titled, “Capitalized Lease Levy Approval and Checklist Memo” dated June 15, 2021 regarding the change to the capital lease approval process. All districts that will be seeking levy authority for a capital lease in the upcoming levy cycle will need to submit a formal request including a memo of the project, financing information, and space use plans to MDE. The full list of the requirements can be found in the “Capitalized Lease Levy Approval and Checklist Memo”. Districts will be required to submit lease levy information by August 16, 2021 on the Levy Information System. However, districts should begin work to submit formal capital lease requests to MDE as soon as possible so staff can begin the evaluation process. Districts will continue to use the Levy Information System to provide data on both operating and capital leases.
If you have any questions regarding capital lease levies, please contact Bill Kiesow at Bill.Kiesow@state.mn.us or (651) 582-8801 and Jason Reil at jason.reil@state.mn.us or (651) 582-8866. Any questions regarding general education programs, please contact Daley Lehmann at daley.lehmann@state.mn.us or (651) 582-8817.
Reminder: ADSIS Grant Application Open through June 18
The documentation for the Alternative Delivery of Specialized Instructional Services (ADSIS) for Fiscal Years 2022-2023 Grant Opportunity including the instructions, application, and budget documentation is still available on MDE’s grant opportunity site.
MDE makes this funding available to Minnesota public school districts and charter schools for the purpose of providing direct instruction and services to K-12 students and preschool students who are part of district programs that generate general education revenue and who may need additional academic and behavioral supports to succeed in the general education environment and who may eventually qualify for special education if the prevention services were not available. Please see the grant instructions for the specific, allowable outcomes for this funding program.
We want to recognize the record number of applicants that applied and have already been awarded with ADSIS funds for FY22 and FY23. We also want to recognize the challenges that are associated with educating during a pandemic, so we have chosen to extend the ADSIS application deadline until June 18, 2021. In order for application reviews to take place and for funding decisions to occur at the start of FY22, late applications will not be accepted beyond June 18, 2021.
Reminder: Digital Equity Survey Coming in Late June
Heading into the 2021-22 school year, school districts and charter schools are strongly encouraged to collect information from families regarding student access to Internet and technology devices. Staff at MDE have been working with district technology coordinators and MARSS coordinators on this initiative and will continue to do so over the summer. Schools will receive a sample survey template in late June, which can be used to collect information from families, which will then be reported to MDE. The reporting deadline will be October 1, 2021.
In addition to state-level uses for this data (which may inform statewide initiatives, such as public-private partnerships to increase digital access), there are many local-level uses for this data and we hope all school districts and charter schools will participate in data collection.
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