1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; integrating service-learning into Minnesota's education 
1.3 	system; establishing an evidence-based service-learning grant program; 
1.4 	appropriating money;amending Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 124D.50, by 
1.5 	adding a subdivision.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 124D.50, is amended by adding a 
1.8 	subdivision to read:
1.9 		Subd. 2a.Service-learning specialist. The commissioner shall create a 
1.10 	service-learning specialist position to coordinate and provide technical assistance to 
1.11 	help school districts incorporate evidence-based service-learning into curriculum and 
1.12 	educational programming. The commissioner may contract for specialized expertise in 
1.13 	school- and community-based service-learning best practices, staff development training, 
1.14 	and program evaluation.

1.15 	Sec. 2. INNOVATIVE SERVICE-LEARNING GRANTS.
 1.16 		Subdivision 1.Establishment; eligibility criteria; application requirements. 
1.17 	 (a) A five-year grant program is established to expand and strengthen innovative 
1.18 	service-learning opportunities for students in early childhood programs through grade 
1.19 	12 and thereby increase student academic achievement and help close the academic 
1.20 	achievement gap. Service-learning partnerships under this program must:
1.21 	(1) include at least enrolled students, school district employees, and an eligible 
1.22 	community-based organization; and
1.23 	(2) allow students to:
2.1 	(i) actively participate in service-learning experiences that meet identified student 
2.2 	and community needs or opportunities;
2.3 	(ii) operate collaboratively with students' enrolling school or district;
2.4 	(iii) align with students' individualized educational plans and programs;
2.5 	(iv) allow students to apply their knowledge and skills in their local community and 
2.6 	help solve community problems;
2.7 	(v) foster students' civic engagement; and 
2.8 	(vi) help students pursue career pathways and achieve college readiness.
2.9 	(b) School district teachers and administrators in an authentic youth-adult partnership 
2.10 	with students and community-based organizations, and other participants or partners, 
2.11 	such as postsecondary faculty and institutions, parents, other community members, local 
2.12 	business organizations, and local media representatives, are eligible to participate in this 
2.13 	grant program. The partner school districts shall receive and serve as fiscal agent for 
2.14 	an innovative service-learning grant. An eligible partnership interested in receiving a 
2.15 	grant must apply to the education commissioner in the form and manner determined by 
2.16 	the commissioner. Consistent with this subdivision, the application must describe how 
2.17 	the applicant will: incorporate youth-designed and youth-led service-learning into the 
2.18 	school curriculum and in specific courses or across subject areas; provide students with 
2.19 	instruction and experiences during the school day using service-learning best practices 
2.20 	and an option to supplement their service-learning experiences outside the school day; 
2.21 	align service-learning opportunities with state and local academic standards; and make 
2.22 	using service-learning best practices an educational priority. The application also must 
2.23 	indicate how the partnership intends to provide youth-designed, youth-led service-learning 
2.24 	experiences that meet genuine community needs or develop genuine community 
2.25 	opportunities based on service-learning best practices aligned to state academic standards. 
2.26 	The partnership must work with the district service-learning specialist or coordinator, or 
2.27 	the district curriculum specialist if no service-learning specialist or coordinator exists, in 
2.28 	designing and implementing a grant application.
2.29 		Subd. 2.Innovation grants. The education commissioner must award up to 
2.30 	32 grants of up to $50,000 each to allow eligible partnerships, equitably distributed 
2.31 	throughout Minnesota by congressional district, to provide innovative service-learning 
2.32 	opportunities to students, consistent with this section. The commissioner may renew 
2.33 	a grant annually as appropriations are available and consistent with the grant criteria 
2.34 	established in this section and other criteria the commissioner may establish for renewing 
2.35 	a grant. In order to receive a grant, a partnership must provide a one-to-one match in 
2.36 	funds or in-kind contributions. A partnership grantee must allocate the grant amount 
3.1 	according to its grant application, which must include conveying 50 percent of the actual 
3.2 	grant amount to its community-based organization partner or partners to implement the 
3.3 	strategies and activities described in its application.
3.4 		Subd. 3.Evaluation. The education commissioner must evaluate these innovative 
3.5 	service-learning programs based on the educational and developmental outcomes of 
3.6 	students participating in the service-learning programs and the impact and results 
3.7 	of students' service-learning on local community outcomes under this section, and 
3.8 	include summary data on the characteristics and extent of students' participation in 
3.9 	service-learning, their development of academic skills or achievements, and their 
3.10 	engagement in school, school attendance, course completion rates, and the graduation 
3.11 	rates for participating high school-age students. The commissioner must transmit an 
3.12 	interim progress report on student and community outcomes under this section to the 
3.13 	education policy and finance committees of the legislature by February 15, 2019, and a 
3.14 	final report to the same legislative committees by February 15, 2021.

3.15 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for the 2015-2016 through 2019-2020 
3.16 	school years.

3.17 	Sec. 3. APPROPRIATION.
 3.18 		Subdivision 1.Department of Education. The sums indicated in this section are 
3.19 	appropriated from the general fund to the Department of Education in the fiscal years 
3.20 	designated for the purposes of Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.50, subdivision 2a, and 
3.21 	section 2.
3.22 		Subd. 2.Service-learning specialist. For the service-learning specialist position 
3.23 	at the Department of Education under Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.50, subdivision 
3.24 	2a, and for related service-learning work under section 2:

3.25		$
	300,000
		2016
	
3.26		$
	300,000
		2017
	
3.27 		Subd. 3.Innovative service-learning program grants. For innovative 
3.28 	service-learning program grants under section 2:

3.29		$
	800,000
		2016
	
3.30		$
	800,000
		2017
	
3.31 	Any funds unexpended in the first fiscal year do not cancel but carry forward to the 
3.32 	second fiscal year.