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August 27, 2021
Updates in this email:
Today, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) announced a new statewide system, called COMPASS, to support learning recovery as students head into another school year that is impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. COMPASS, which stands for Collaborative Minnesota Partnerships to Advance Student Success, aims to accelerate learning by meeting students’ academic, social-emotional and mental health needs as Minnesota school communities continue to navigate the pandemic. The announcement comes as the department releases results of the 2021 statewide assessments, which include the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs), Minnesota Test of Academic Skills (MTAS), ACCESS for ELLs (English language learners) and Alternate ACCESS for ELLs. Assessment results show declines in the number of students meeting or exceeding grade level standards compared to 2019, the last time students took statewide assessments. Read the full press release.
Grant funding is now available to support the implementation of COVID-19 school testing programs for school year 2021-2022. Every school district, charter school and tribal school is eligible to apply.
Minnesota has designated $55 million of its Epidemiology Laboratory Capacity (ELC) Reopening Schools Grant supported through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 with an aim at providing support for schools to detect and prevent the transmission of COVID-19 within schools. Grants funds can be used for staffing, to purchase tests, personal protective equipment (PPE), and any necessary supplies to conduct COVID-19 school testing programs.
Program allocations have been loaded into the State Educational Record View and Submission (SERVS) financial system. Eligible districts should accept their award and complete the short application in SERVS. Once the application is approved in Grant Management, create and submit a budget in the Manage Applications and Budgets area of SERVS. This budget will serve as a description of uses of the funds. Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) staff will review and approve the budget.
COVID-19 Testing Options Available to Schools
Through Minnesota's first-in-the-nation statewide education COVID-19 testing program schools have a variety of testing options available to keep kids and staff healthy, safe and in their classrooms.
This school year, schools will have access to individual PCR tests, pooled PCR tests and rapid tests—both antigen and molecular. Districts, charter schools, tribal schools, and nonpublic schools will be able to assess which tests work best for their school community and have autonomy in developing their individual testing program.
More information about the resources available for schools, including detailed information about each individual test option, can be found on the COVID-19 testing for schools page of the MDH website. Please note that information on ordering each type of test can be found in the PDF listed under the Available testing resources section.
Minnesota schools may be eligible for up to $10,000 in grants to improve workplace safety from the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI). DLI’s Safety Grant Program provides matching funds of up to $10,000 for projects that will reduce the risk of injury or illness to workers. A grant project must be based on findings of a hazard survey that identifies injury or illness risk(s) to workers and provides recommendations to minimize/eliminate the risk. Grants may be awarded to help schools related to ventilation and other COVID controls. Learn more about the program on the DLI website.
As mentioned in the announcement earlier this month, districts/charters that are fully-approved or provisionally-approved online providers will have the greatest flexibility at the local level to adapt throughout the school year to COVID-19 cases and close contacts as needed. These districts/charters are positioned to provide online instruction to (a) families that wish to continue online learning this year and (b) to students/classrooms/grades/schools that need to quarantine. Apply for provisional approval using the online form by Friday, August 27.
Information for districts and charters that do not have online or blended programs
Districts/charters that are not fully-approved or provisionally-approved online providers and experience COVID-19 cases or close contacts who cannot attend in-person instruction can choose to:
- Use homebound instruction for individual students, small groups of students or classes. Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) has updated the definition of homebound for purposes of generating student membership and state aid. Previously homebound instruction was available only to individual students. It has been updated to reflect the current state of the pandemic to allow for situations where individual students, small groups, or classes need to quarantine. In these cases synchronous or asynchronous instruction can be provided virtually. When a whole class is temporarily moved to online learning through homebound instruction, it is strongly recommended that districts maintain a full instructional day that includes both synchronous and asynchronous instruction for students per local policies and plans. Districts are responsible for maintaining local records for documenting instances of quarantine and instruction provided.
Use up to 30 total instructional days throughout the course of the entire school year for temporary shifts to online learning at the grade, school, or LEA-wide level. If there is a need to exceed the 30-day maximum, MDE will establish a process to submit information for the approval of additional days from MDE. Details on this process will be communicated soon.
As we start the 2020-21 school year please keep in mind that under the Every Student Success Act (ESSA), districts, tribal schools, or charter schools that have received a Federal Title VI grant (subpart 1 of Part A) that exceeds $40,000 in the previous fiscal year, or with a school or district with an enrollment of American Indian/Alaskan Native student population of at least 50 percent should be consulting with Minnesota’s tribal nations. This includes consulting on decisions that will impact the health and safety of students like the COVID-19 mitigation strategies schools are adopting, as well as a school’s plan to use the federal funding received as a part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP). More information see the Tribal Consultation under ESSA webpage.
Teacher Development and Evaluation (TDE) & Q Comp Professional Learning Events
MDE will be facilitating several professional learning opportunities that will kick off in August. While open to educational leaders at all levels of the organization, these sessions are particularly geared to teacher leaders who serve in a variety of roles in local TDE/Q Comp systems as well as members of local TDE/Q Comp leadership teams.
Opportunities include:
- Classroom Observation and Feedback: Community of Practice for Peer Coaches
- Community of Practice for New Teacher Leaders
- Professional Learning Communities (PLC)
- Student Learning Goals: Designing and Improving Systems for Student Success
For more information about each opportunity—including dates and registration—view the TDE/Q Comp Professional Learning Series Flyer. For assistance with questions or to request a reasonable accommodation, contact Tyler Livingston at 651-582-8427 at least two weeks prior to the first event in each opportunity.
Back to School and COVID-19: A Conversation with CDC for Rural Educators and Administrators
August 31, 2021 - 7 p.m.
The webinar will provide an overview of the CDC's K-12 school guidance, adolescent vaccination recommendations, school-based vaccinations strategies, and approaches to support socio-emotional well-being among school-age children and adolescents. Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions of the presenter and panelists.
Register for the webinar. If you have questions, email eocevent533@cdc.gov.
Combined World's Best Workforce (WBWF) and Achievement; Integration (A&I) Annual Summary Progress Report Update
Within the next two to three weeks, MDE will send an official notification to districts and charter schools concerning instructions for completing these combined reports and the method by which you'll submit them. Please note that the 2020-21 reporting requirements will be identical to last year's reporting requirements and that districts and charter schools should mark their calendars for a December 15 due date. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at mde.worldsbestworkforce@state.mn.us.
Action Needed: School COVID-19 Coordinator Information
As we get ready for the upcoming school year, we ask that superintendents, charter directors, tribal school leaders and nonpublic school leaders submit email addresses for their School COVID-19 Program Coordinators so that we can share important information with the appropriate staff. Complete the 2021-22 School COVID-19 Coordinators contact information form.
September 1 Webinar: School Health, COVID-19 and CLIA Waivers
To provide COVID-19 testing at your school, you may need a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment (CLIA) waiver. MDH School Health Services is hosting a webinar about CLIA on Wednesday, September 1, from 4-5 p.m.
The webinar will cover:
- Why CLIA?
- What is a CLIA Waiver?
- Do I need a CLIA certificate to provide onsite testing at my school?
- How do I apply for a CLIA certificate?
Superintendents, charter leaders, and COVID-19 coordinators: You are invited to join the webinar via YouTube Live Stream. To access the live stream, visit the link provided a few minutes before 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 1. You may need to check with your IT department to ensure there is not a firewall in place that would prevent you from accessing YouTube.
A recording will NOT be available for later viewing.
Host An Onsite Vaccination Event in Your Students' Community
To increase vaccination rates, the State launched ‘Vax to School’ — a statewide campaign encouraging students and families to get fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by the beginning of the school year.
If a school in your district is interested in hosting an on-site vaccination clinic, please fill out the following interest survey: Community Vaccination Event Request Form.
Kognito School Mental Health Trainings for Staff and Students: Free, Virtual, and Unlimited Access
The Minnesota Department of Health and the Minnesota Department of Education are pleased to announce the continuation of the Minnesota Kognito School Mental Health Training Initiative. Schools and districts across the state have access to a suite of online mental health trainings for staff and students, including free unlimited access to trainings such as At Risk and Friend 2 Friend. Kognito trainings are research-proven online simulations providing hands-on interactive and personalized learning through the use of role-play conversations with virtual students. Trainings meet the educator suicide prevention training requirement per MN Statute 122A.187 as determined by local districts and charter schools. Free unlimited access to the Kognito suite includes implementation tools, discussion guides, and technical support to roll out in your district or school.
We invite you to join our community of leaders to support the mental and emotional well-being of all Minnesota students. Learn more about how to implement the training program by attending an informational webinar on September 16. Register for the September 16 webinar.
Assurance of Compliance (AOC) Application Now Live
The AOC application is now back up and ready to receive submissions. Thank you for your patience. As a part of the application maintenance, some changes have been made. The application will look slightly different than previous years and will ask for some new data from districts. The AOC collects contact information for Title IX, 504 and Human Rights Coordinators, a copy of the current Harassment and Violence Policy, verifies a district’s compliance with state and federal equity laws and verifies that district mandated reporters have been trained. This year, the AOC will also begin collecting data on the number of district staff that have been trained on their mandated reporter responsibilities as well as how many of those staff are licensed and unlicensed.
In addition, the AOC application also includes a feature that will stop a submission if it is incomplete and ask the user to include the missing information prior to submitting. The user who completes the AOC will also receive an email confirmation letting them know that the submission was received.
We hope that these changes are implemented seamlessly and result in more complete data as well as clarity when a submission is received by MDE. If you have any questions about the AOC application or changes implemented, please contact Virginia Davis at 612-582-8338 or Virginia.L.Davis@state.mn.us.
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