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July 1, 2022
Updates in this email:
To thank those Minnesotans who worked on the frontlines during the COVID-19 peacetime emergency, Gov. Tim Walz signed Frontline Worker Payments into law April 29, 2022, enabling those workers to apply for Frontline Worker Pay.
Eligibility
Eligibility is based on both work requirements and job sector. See frontlinepay.mn.gov for an explanation of the requirements, the most up-to-date information and helpful resources. Also, sign up to receive alerts about Frontline Worker Pay via email.
Where to Apply, Timeline
Applications are open through July 22, 2022 and can be submitted at frontlinepay.mn.gov. The application will be open for 45 days and no payments will be made until all applications are in and a determination has been made regarding how many applicants qualified. The funds for this program will be split equally among all approved applicants. The 45-day application period will be followed by a 15-day period to allow for appeals from those whose applications were denied. After verification and processing of the applications are completed, payments are anticipated in early fall. All applications will move through the process at the same time and payments will be forwarded for processing together.
Notice Requirement for Employers
Employers in a frontline sector must provide notice no later than 15 days from June 8 in a form approved by the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, advising all current workers who may be eligible for payments of the assistance potentially available to them and how to apply for benefits.
An employer must provide notice using the same means the employer uses to provide other work-related notices to employees. This notice must be at least as conspicuous as:
- Posting a copy of the notice at each worksite where workers work and where the notice may be readily observed and reviewed by all workers working at the site; or
- Providing a paper or electronic copy of the notice to all workers.
The approved employer notice and information about qualifying frontline sectors will be available at Frontline Worker Pay Outreach Toolkit.
What parents need to know about the COVID-19 vaccine for their children
Children age 6 months to 5 years can now get their COVID-19 shots! Talk to your child’s health care provider and make a plan to get them vaccinated. Families can also search for vaccine locations on our Find Vaccine Locations map: https://mn.gov/covid19/vaccine/find-vaccine/locations/index.jsp. The map will be updated as more appointments become available. Demand is expected to be high, so please be patient if an appointment is not immediately available. There will be plenty of vaccine to protect our littlest children from COVID-19.
Additional information for parents, including in Hmong, Somali and Spanish can be found by clicking on this link.
EPA Electric School Bus Funding Opportunity
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Electric Bus Grant Program has opened and will be taking applications through August 19, 2022. These funds are separate from grant funds available through the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
Virtually all school bus operators in Minnesota are eligible. The selection process will be completely random, according to EPA. All eligible applications will be assigned a random number, and then numbers will be chosen randomly until all the funds are gone. No state can end up with more than 10% of the overall funds for this funding cycle. This simply means that the more applications Minnesota schools and bus companies submits, the better chance we have of getting some of these funds in our State.
For more information and to apply, visit www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus.
If you’re not signed up for EPA’s clean school bus informational emails, the link to sign up is here: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/dgrhRed/cleanschoolbus.
MDE Welcomes New Leaders
We are pleased to announce several new leaders that have or will soon join our team:
Catherine Erickson has been named the next Director for the School Finance Division. Cathy will be joining MDE on July 20th, following Terri Yetter’s retirement.
Cathy comes to us from Duluth Public Schools where she served as the Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Duluth Public Schools, she served regional school districts through her work with Arrowhead Regional Computing Consortium (ARCC). She has extensive experience in education finance, was a member of the recent School Finance Working Group and is a presenter for the Minnesota Association of School Business Managers (MASBO).
Sally Reynolds has been named the next Director for the Career and College Success Division. Sally will step into her new role on August 3, 2022, following Paula Palmer’s retirement.
Sally started at MDE in October of 2017 as the Alternative and Extended Learning Specialist, and as a member of the High School Initiatives Team. During the 2020-21 school year, she served in a state leadership role for COVID-19 testing in our schools. Sally has most recently been in the position of High School Initiatives Supervisor in the Career and College Success Division since July 2021.
Kevin Burns has been named the new Director of Communications and Media Relations.
Kevin is a well-seasoned communications professional with many decades of experience. He was most recently with St. Paul Public Schools, has previously served as Chief Communications Officer for the Mayo Clinic Health System, had two roles at the Department of Public Safety as Assistant Commissioner and Director of Communications, as well many years as a reporter for Minnesota Public Radio and KMSP-TV.
Please join us in welcoming our new colleagues!
New School Nurse Orientation
Registration is open for Minnesota’s new school nurse orientation August 9-12, 2022, at Metro ECSU located in Arden Hills, MN. This two-day orientation program provides a framework for practice for RN/Licensed School Nurses with five years or less experience in school nursing. Presentations cover required and essential components of school health services in Minnesota elementary and secondary schools and on the National Association of School Nurses Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice. For more information and program questions, contact Tara Cliff at 952-556-6116 or clifft@district112.org.
Reminder: Fall Professional Development Opportunity: Principal Development & Evaluation Community of Practice
Minnesota statute requires each local district to develop and implement a system for annually evaluating their school principals. What should such a system include and how might it emphasize growth and support?
The purpose of the Community of Practice for Principal Development and Evaluation (PDE) is to: Explore best-practices for successful PDE systems; Better understand your district's current PDE system; Unpack the purpose and goals for developing or revising your current PDE system; Collaborate as a team to develop or revise a meaningful PDE system.
Who should attend? A team of two to five people, including at least one building principal and one principal supervisor. We ask for each individual to register separately. We recommend teams attend the virtual session together to facilitate meaningful conversation during the collaboration time.
Dates: October 4 & 18; November 1, 15, & 29; December 13
Time: 1 - 2:30 p.m. Note - Each session is designed to provide no more than an hour of content, 1 - 2 p.m., and the additional time, 2 - 2:30 p.m., can be utilized by teams for collaboration and planning.
Location: Virtual (Zoom)
The Community of Practice registration form requests your most pressing questions and concerns about PDE in order to assist us in planning the series.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Reminder: Minnesota Learning Commons (MNLC) Learning and Technology Summit - July 27, 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
MNLC is a partnership operated by the University of Minnesota, Minnesota State and the Minnesota Department of Education. The mission of MNLC is to support educators with resources, networking opportunities, and best practices in digital education.
MNLC is hosting a summit on July 27 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. that is all virtual and free to attend. Our theme is “Flexible Life-Long Learning in Our Digital Era.”
Reminder: Compensatory Reporting Extension
Laws 2020, 7th Special Session, Chapter 2, Article 6, Sections 1 & 2, extended the reporting window for State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2022 Compensatory Revenue. Eligibility for the compensatory revenue program is determined by December 15 of each year. Minnesota Session Laws 2020 extended the deadline to January 4, 2021. The legislation also specified that up to the amount of compensatory revenue attributable to the extension must be funded from available federal coronavirus relief funds. This replaces the state aid funding source that would have been attributable to the 2-week extension. The total revenue attributed to the extension is about $13.9 million. Of the amount revenue needed, $2.4 million will be funded from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER II) Fund. The remaining $11.53 million will be funded from the flexible State Fiscal Recovery funds (SFRF) in the American Rescue Plan.
A memo that outlines the roles and responsibilities for districts has been posted on the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) website. In addition, a spreadsheet that shows the amount of compensatory revenue for each school site and district that is attributable to the reporting extension can be found in the MDE website: Data Center > Data Reports and Analytics > School Finance Spreadsheets > General Education > Miscellaneous Spreadsheets > 2022. Not all districts submitted data to MDE during the extension period, so please check the information for eligibility.
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