Legislation allows Minnesota school districts to avoid financial penalties and encourages e-learning days

Senator Carla Nelson (R-Rochester) introduced legislation to allow local Minnesota school boards, by board resolution, to count snow days taken during the current school year as regular school days for purposes of meeting the state’s school calendar requirement. This allows school districts to avoid possible funding shortfalls, or even the theoretical possibility of jail time for superintendents, due to not meeting the state calendar requirement of 165 days.

“Across our state, extraordinary winter weather circumstances have prevented students from safely attending school,” said Senator Nelson, Chair of the Senate E-12 Education Finance and Policy Committee. “In keeping our students safe, school districts face a struggle to meet Minnesota’s calendar requirement. This bill gives local school boards the option to forgive days to ensure stable funding and avoid unreasonable scheduling disruptions for students and families.”

The bill also includes a provision encouraging school districts who fail to meet the calendar requirement to adopt an e-learning day plan under existing Minnesota state law for future school years.

“School districts across Minnesota have the option of e-learning days in meeting our state’s instruction requirements,” added Nelson. “Many districts have already adopted plans that have allowed students to learn from the safety of their own homes on dangerous weather days. While this should not be a one-size-fits-all approach, local school boards should examine if e-learning days are a fit for them in dealing with snow days in the future.”

However, Nelson noted e-learning is currently limited to five days. Since many schools are reporting over eight snow days due to the unusually harsh winter, Nelson said the Senate Education Committee will also consider adjusting the e-learning law to expand the number of permitted days.