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

Bipartisan legislation chief-authored by Senator Carla Nelson (R-Rochester) to allow local Minnesota school boards, by board resolution, to count snow days taken during the 2018-19 school year as regular school days for purposes of meeting the state’s school calendar requirement, overwhelmingly passed the Minnesota State Senate on Thursday, March 7. 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 Minnesota, extraordinary winter weather and unprecedented snow falls have prevented students from safely attending school, and in some instances missing up to ten days,” said Senator Nelson, Chair of the Senate E-12 Education Finance and Policy Committee. “While superintendents rightly prioritized the safety of students, districts now 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 “Snow Day Relief Act” only applies to days missed during the 2018-19 school year. Many schools have discussed the possibility of having to delay upcoming construction projects if they were required to extend the school year into the summer. 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.

“E-learning days are an innovative learn-from-home approach to education that can help districts meet the state’s instruction requirements,” added Nelson. “Many districts have already adopted plans; however, this legislation encourages school boards to examine this option and consider implementing e-learning days to help deal with snow days in the future.”

Nelson noted e-learning is currently limited to five days. Since schools are reporting up to ten 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. The “Snow Day Relief Act” now awaits a vote in the Minnesota House.