Wednesday Tripleheader.   The day led off with the House Education Finance Committee hearing Representative Paul Marquart's HF 498, a bill that would allow districts to include in their Long Term Facilities Maintenance levy costs associated with maintenance at cooperative units (intermediate districts, cooperatives, joint powers agreements) to which they belong.

The action then moved to the House Education Policy Committee in the early afternoon.  The committee covered three bills, the first being Representative Cheryl Youakim's HF 378.  HF 378 would establish a minimum of 16 hours of training for paraprofessionals, Title I aides, and other instructional support personnel, with 8 of these hours needing to be completed prior to the first day of school.  The bill provides for funding of this training and the bill was re-referred to the Education Finance Committee after passing on a split vote on which several, but not all, Republicans voted against it.  The committee then moved to HF 469, Representative Kelly Moller's bill that would require seizure training for school personnel and require school districts to have a seizure action plan.  The testimony in favor of the bill was quite moving and it's a testament to the students who suffer from seizure disorders and their parents for their fortitude in dealing with the challenging medical effects related to seizures.  The committee ended by considering HF 786, a bill authored by Representative Fue Lee that would modify and fund after-school academic programs.  As in the case of HF 378, because the bill calls for funding, it now will head to the Education Finance Committee.

The day ended with a whirlwind session of the Senate Education Finance and Policy Committee.  SF 790 would provide funding for the Sanneh Foundation.  Senator Zack Duckworth is the chief author of the bill.  The committee then turned to all of the Governor's recommendations that are carried in three bills that have been introduced:  

SF 973 (Chamberlain)--Governor's "Summer" Bill

SF 960 (Chamberlain)--Governor's Budget Recommendations

SF 788 (Chamberlain)--Minnesota Department of Education Policy Bill

Minnesota Department of Education staff went through the highlights of the budget at a brisk pace and testimony on the provisions was quite limited.