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March 18, 2022
Updates in this email:
Updated Guidance on Quarantine and Isolation
Throughout the pandemic, the Recommended COVID-19 Decision Tree for Schools, Youth Programs and Child Care Programs from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has helped determine when to direct children, families and staff to isolate and/or quarantine. This tool has been under review and was retired this week.
The decision tree has been replaced with a Guide for Isolation and a Guide for Quarantine for schools, child care and youth programming. Each guide provides best practice recommendations for isolation and quarantine in alignment with CDC guidance. The updated guides are posted on the MDH Schools and Child Care page. You can also visit If You Are Sick or Test Positive and Close Contacts and Quarantine for more information on isolation and quarantine.
MDH remains available to support your questions by email at health.schools.covid19@state.mn.us.
No Cost At-Home COVID-19 Tests Available for School Staff and Students
The State of Minnesota continues to offer no cost COVID-19 tests for schools. School districts and schools can order a two-week supply of BD Veritor At-Home COVID-19 tests for staff and students now. Tests are in stock and ready to ship. These orders can be placed every two weeks through the end of the school year, while supplies last.
The state also has BinaxNOW Professional and Cue tests in stock. Details on these tests are available on MDH: COVID-19 Testing in K-12 Schools and Child Care. Information on ordering each type of test can be found in the PDF listed under the available testing resources section.
As a reminder, screening testing is included at medium and high levels in CDC’s new COVID-19 Community Levels and COVID-19 Prevention recommendations. CDC has also updated the School Testing for COVID-19 webpage with tools and resources to support school-based testing, including posters and social media messages.
Questions about test availability or creating or maintaining a school COVID-19 testing program should be emailed to COVIDtesting.mde@state.mn.us.
The COMPASS team is continuing to provide school leaders, administrators and educators with support to accelerate student learning. In case you missed it, earlier this month we announced the refreshed Continuous Improvement in Districts and Schools process, which can be used within any context or level of the PreK-12 education system. The process encourages districts and schools to look across their programs for focus, coherence and connections. The simplified framework uses around the Plan, Do, Study, Act cycle. Using the self-assessment tool, school districts and schools can identify areas for growth. Additionally, schools can access a growing digital library of resources through the Repository of Evidence-Based Practices.
The COMPASS team is also offering two upcoming literacy and math webinars.
WEBINAR: The Science of Reading within a Multi-tiered System of Support (MTSS) Framework
The COMPASS Literacy team is hosting a webinar on the Science of Reading within a Multi-Tiered System of Supports Framework in partnership with Dr. Kim Gibbons from the University of Minnesota Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI). This session will place an emphasis on literacy assessment, instruction, and the district’s role in implementation. The webinar will be held on March 31 from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. Registration is required.
WEBINAR: Supporting Math Learning
The COMPASS Math team is partnering with Quantile® Teacher Assistant to provide three free webinars for Minnesota educators. The webinars will demonstrate how to use the Quantile program to support learning based on student outcomes and goals. Each webinar will have the same content modified with examples for specific grade bands. Registration is required. The webinars will be held on:
- Tuesday, March 22 at 3:45 p.m. (Grades K-5 examples)
- Tuesday, March 29 at 3:45 p.m. (Grades 6-8 examples)
- Tuesday, April 5 at 3:45 p.m. (Grades 9-12 examples)
This is a reminder that all entities need a unique identifier for federal awards purposes. On April 4, 2022, that identifier is changing from the DUNS number to the Unique Entity ID (UEI), issued by SAM.gov. If you do not have an active entity registration on SAM.gov you may not be able to receive federal payments or apply for federal grants.
Where possible, MDE has updated the District and School Site Verification System with the SAM UEI identifier for organizations that had previously entered a DUNS number in SERVS Financial; however, this does not guarantee that your SAM.gov registration is currently active. If you have not done so already, please verify with your business office that your SAM.gov entity registration is active and that the associated SAM UEI is correctly listed on the MDE Organization Reference Glossary (MDE-ORG). You can review the SAM UEI on MDE-ORG by searching for your organization and then choosing the organization record (the identifier is located near the top, above “physical location”). If needed, the organization’s Site Verification Coordinator will need to log into the District and School Site Verification System to enter or correct the SAM UEI. To find the SAM UEI field within the District and School Site Verification System: from the Dashboard click on the organization record and on the next screen click “Update Organization Details.” The SAM UEI is located between the website URL field and business phone number fields within the District and School Site Verification system.
If you have questions on how to enter or verify your UEI number in the MDE District and School Site Verification system please contact Michelle Carey at 651-582-8287 or by email at mde.school-verify@state.mn.us.
If you need assistance to renew or receive your SAM UEI, or to activate an inactive registration please contact SAM.gov Customer Service. Options to reach SAM.gov Customer Service can be found near the bottom of the Federal Service Desk webpage.
The 2022 Hormel Symposium: Live, Interactive, and Virtual June 14-16
The Hormel Foundation Gifted and Talented Education Symposium provides an opportunity for attendees to gain greater understanding of the unique needs of gifted and high potential learners. Participants may choose to attend in-depth sessions on a variety of topics. Daily sessions focus on: equitable identification practices and services; social and emotional needs; creativity; talent development and underrepresented populations. Invited presenters include many of the field’s most knowledgeable experts. This is a great event for educators, policy makers, counselors, psychologists and administrators. The 2022 virtual symposium will be held June 14-16, 2022. Visit www.gtsymposium.org to learn more and register.
Reminder: Nonpublic Pupil Aids; Communication of Fiscal Year 2023 Program Rates of Entitlement and Related Forms
Please read the Nonpublic Pupil Aids memorandum from Greg Sogaard, Division of School Finance. Public school districts are reimbursed for expenditures incurred in providing pupils the instructional materials and pupil support services required when pupils are attending a nonpublic school (includes home schools), which are established and operating within the district’s boundaries. Please forward this information to your district administrator for nonpublic pupil aids. Please note that memorandum includes links to all of the nonpublic pupil aid forms. If you have any questions, please contact Greg Sogaard.
Reminder: Restorative Practices in Schools and Communities Skill Sessions and Trainings, June 2022
Registration is open for the 2022 Restorative Practices Trainings which will take place from June 13-16 and June 20-23, sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Education School Climate Center. Restorative Practices are drawn from the traditions of Indigenous People and Communities of Color around the world. Restorative practices are an approach schools can use to build relationships, improve school climate and repair harm.
The trainings will be offered online and in-person.
- Restorative Skills Session (nine hours over three days) will be offered online only.
- Circle Trainings (twenty hours over four days), Repair of Harm Trainings and Restorative Implementation Trainings (both fifteen hours over three days) will be offered in person, either in Bemidji, Cloquet or Crystal.
- Circle 1—Building Community, Restorative Chats and Circle to Repair Harm will be offered online.
For more information, visit Implementing Restorative Practices (mn.gov), or contact Nancy Riestenberg, 651-582-8433.
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