Coronavirus Challenges.  The spreading Coronavirus is just starting to have a ripple effect on school systems throughout the nation.  As of early this afternoon, six states--Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, and West Virginia--have closed schools within their boundaries.  Additionally, the Governor of Kentucky has recommended that all schools close, but there has been no formal action forcing that decision.  Many large urban school districts have also decided to close for the time being.  Among these districts are Atlanta, Austin (TX), Denver, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.  Closer to home, the Robbinsdale district has closed.  As far as statewide action in Minnesota, that is a developing story, which is to be expected given that we are in uncharted territory. 

Minnesota Department of Education Deputy Commissioner Heather Mueller (shown above) answered questions regarding how the state will proceed on this matter at Friday morning's general session of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators' Spring Conference.  The Q-and-A session took place after information was presented by the Minnesota Department of Health through a phone broadcast to conference participants.  Given the nature of what is happening and the fact that each district in Minnesota faces different challenges, it is extremely difficult to give definitive answers as the extent of the spread of the virus widens.  That said, Deputy Commissioner Mueller did an excellent job in gathering the wide range of issues facing Minnesota school districts as they deal with students and staff.

As we have seen in the past week, major entertainment and sporting events have been cancelled until further notice at both the professional and amateur levels.  By doing this, it is hoped that the virus will be contained more effectively than what has been the case in other countries by "flattening the curve" of transmission through social distancing.  These are challenging times and I will keep my eye out for information that may be valuable to you as you face the issues related to the coronavirus locally.

Minnesota Department of Health COVID-19 Information Page

Minnesota Department of Education COVID-19 Information Page

Governor's Supplemental Budget Released.  Governor Walz released his supplemental budget for the 2020 session yesterday and it contains a number of initiatives relating to education.  The level of budget recommendations for the remainder of this biennium is $256.9 million, with budget commitments in the next biennium of $268.5 million.  While not as robust as many non-budget year supplemental budgets in the past few decades, it is larger than I thought it would be given what I was hearing from a number of policymakers.

E-12 education gets a boost in the budget, particularly in the area of funding for student support staff (school social workers, school psychologists, school counselors, school nurses, and school chemical health counselors).  The budget calls for $20 million for the 2020-21 school year in additional funding that would be distributed to all school districts for hiring or purchasing student support personnel.  That amount would increase to $25 million in the 2021-22 school year and $27 million in the 2022-23 school year.  This is not a re-establishment of the grant program that was passed in 2016.  These dollars will flow to all school districts.  I have not seen the language of the proposal to know details beyond that.

The budget also includes the following recommendations for the E-12 system:

• $1.5 million this year and annually in the base going forward for technology upgrades at MDE.
• $2.0 million this year and annually in the base going forward for full-service community schools.
• $1.0 million this year and annually in the base going forward for hiring equity coaches to provide staff development to teachers and other staff on racial consciousness.
• $880,000 this year and $430,000 annually in the base going forward for providing support to districts in helping support the new standards related to understanding the value and contributions of tribal nations.
• $377,000 this year and $377,000 annually in the base going forward to restore Head Start program funding to Native American tribal programs.

As stated above, I have yet to see the language accompanying the budget recommendations and I will provide those details once they are available.

Here is a link to the Management and Budget Web Page that provides information across all budget categories:

2020-21 Supplemental Budget Recommendations--Al Funds By Agency