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June 25, 2021
Updates in this email:
Earlier this week, Minnesota legislative leaders reached an agreement on the E-12 Education budget. The deal reached by legislative leaders invests $555 million in fiscal years (FY) 22-23 and $668 million in FY 24-25 into E-12 education. Investments include general education formula increases, investments in special education and English learner aid, as well as extending voluntary prekindergarten (VPK) into the next biennium and funding a robust teachers of color and American Indian teachers package.
The general education formula—the largest source of revenue for districts and schools—will increase by 2.45% in FY 22 and 2.0% in FY 23, for a total investment over the biennium of $462 million. Additional funds of $4 million per biennium for English learner aid and a one-time investment to reduce the special education cross subsidy by almost $10.5 million. The 4,000 VPK and School Readiness Plus seats that would have otherwise been eliminated have been funded through the biennium, too.
The robust teachers of color and American Indian teachers package most notably includes an additional $10 million per biennium for Grow Your Own programs. Corresponding policy language will also provide additional opportunities for statewide participation and more flexibility for participants by allowing the funds to be spent over 60 months. Other investments in this area include:
- $280,000 per biennium for MITTP grants, which includes expanded access and permits scholarships to be used to cover expected family contribution.
- $400,000 per biennium for Come Teach in MN Hiring Bonuses.
- $250,000 per biennium for expanded concurrent enrollment teacher training.
- $500,000 per biennium for teacher recruitment and marketing campaigns.
- $4.508 million per biennium for teachers of color mentoring and retention incentives.
- $750,000 in FY 22-23 for Black Men Teach to create partnerships with schools.
A number of policy items are part of the final package including:
- Delaying the implementation of academic standards for districts and schools, while allowing MDE and the standards review committees to continue their work.
- Prohibiting lunch shaming and requiring respectful lunch policies.
- Limiting the length of a charter authorizer corrective action plan to 180 days.
- Limiting screen time for public preschool and prekindergarten students.
- Requiring compensatory revenue expenditures to be reported by functional area.
- Requiring grant recipients to use evidenced-based practices.
Bill language is available here and is moving in both the House and Senate.
The E-12 Education bill does not include any policy language allowing for a distance learning option similar to what was offered under the Safe Learning Plan for the 2020-21 School Year. We know that there is a desire by many districts to be able to provide this option for families who may not be ready to return to in-person learning. MDE is working to create flexibilities within the existing Online Learning Provider application process to address these needs. More information will be provided soon.
Education Commissioner Heather Mueller has a short video message for Minnesota’s teachers, sharing her gratitude for their commitment to our students throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Please share this video with your teachers as you are able.
Thank you to everyone who shared the opportunity to provide public input for Minnesota's American Rescue Plan (ARP) state plan. We received nearly 2,500 public comments in addition to letters from groups and conversations with many organizations, school leaders, educators, students, families and individuals. MDE will submit our state plan to the U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday, June 30 and we will provide an update to school leaders about the details of the plan at that time.
Districts and charter schools should ensure information about 2021 summer learning program offerings is shared with students and families. This information should be shared in easily accessible ways such as district and school and charter websites, translated communications, social media and other platforms that are used in your community. It is important that our students and families are getting timely information about the many resources dedicated to student learning recovery, mental health support and more.
Many school districts and charter schools are likely hearing from COVID-19 testing companies who would like to inquire as to how they can be helpful in the coming school year. Before you make any final decision on whether to move forward with a company, we wanted to let you know that we’ve haven’t forgotten about testing. The Minnesota Department of Health is working on a statewide plan to offer testing for students and staff. Together we have been researching companies and pouring over RFIs all in an effort to understand what options may best suit the unique needs of our school districts. Time is of the essence, we know! You’ve got a lot on your plates, and we want to ensure you have the space to prepare for the upcoming school year. While we are not sharing a testing plan today, we can assure you that one is coming soon.
COVID-19 Updates Webpages
MDE is continuing to review and update our COVID-19 Updates webpages. Many resources related to the Safe Learning Plan and executive orders 20-19, 20-82, 20-94 and 20-95 will be archived soon.
14-day COVID-19 Case Rate Reporting
Throughout summer 2020 and the 2020-21 school year, the Minnesota Department of Health reported the 14-day COVID-19 case rate by county as a tool for schools to use in decision-making about learning models. Because the Safe Learning Plan will no longer be in effect, MDH will stop reporting these numbers as of June 30, 2021.
Safe Learning Model Data
The Safe Learning Model Dashboard will be removed on June 30, 2021. The dashboard provides point-in-time information about learning models for school districts and charter schools, so it will no longer be needed following the end of the Safe Learning Plan. The Safe Learning Model Look-Up System, which includes historical information from the 2020-21 school year, will continue to be available on MDE's Safe Learning Model Data webpage.
Federal Statewide Assessment Grant Awards Public Comment
Due to the unanticipated reduction in statewide assessment spending caused by COVID-19, MDE is working to manage these remaining funds so that they will be available to cover upcoming development and standard setting expenses associated with implementing assessments aligned to revised standards. MDE is requesting tydings for federal statewide assessment grant awards S369A190024 and S369A200024 from the U.S. Department of Education. Under the federal Tydings Amendment, Section 421(b) of the General Education Provisions Act any funds that are not obligated at the end of the federal funding period shall remain available for obligation for an additional period of 12 months.
As stated in ESEA statute, section 8401, the “State educational agency shall provide the public and any interested local educational agency in the State with notice and a reasonable opportunity to comment and provide input on the request, to the extent that the request impacts the local educational agency.” As such, the public is invited to comment on the tydings request for federal grant awards now through July 7 by emailing mde.testing@state.mn.us.
Reminder: 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.
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