1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; allowing school districts and charter schools to also 
1.3 	publish public information electronically; eliminating a requirement that 
1.4 	superintendents identify expenditures related to the rate at which students pass 
1.5 	statewide assessments;amending Minnesota Statutes 2010, sections 123A.15, 
1.6 	subdivision 5; 123A.32, subdivision 5; 123B.29; 123B.38; 123B.51, subdivision 
1.7 	5; 123B.52, subdivisions 1, 1a; 123B.71, subdivision 12; 205A.07; 645.13; 
1.8 	repealing Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 123B.143.
1.9 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.10 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 123A.15, subdivision 5, is amended to 
1.11 	read:
1.12 		Subd. 5.Notice and public hearing on proposed agreement. (a) Before entering 
1.13 	into an agreement, the board of each member district must publish:
1.14 	(1) a summary of the proposed agreement and its effect upon the district at least 
1.15 	once in a newspaper of general circulation in the district; or
1.16 	(2) publish a notice of the summary under clause (1) at least once in a newspaper of 
1.17 	general circulation in the district and publish the summary of the proposed agreement and 
1.18 	its effect upon the district on the district's official Web site. 
1.19 	(b) The board must conduct a public hearing on the proposed agreement not more 
1.20 	than ten days after the notice and at least 30 days before entering into an agreement.

1.21 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

1.22 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 123A.32, subdivision 5, is amended to read:
1.23 		Subd. 5.Notice; informational meeting. Prior to Before entering into an 
1.24 	agreement, the board shall consult with the community at an informational meeting. The 
2.1 	board must publish notice of the meeting in the official newspaper of the district or on 
2.2 	the district's official Web site and may send written or electronic notice of the meeting to 
2.3 	parents of pupils who would be affected.

2.4 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

2.5 	Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 123B.29, is amended to read:
2.6 	123B.29 SALE AT AUCTION.
2.7 	Notwithstanding sections 123B.52, subdivision 1, 471.345 or any other law, the 
2.8 	board of a school district or of a cooperative center for vocational education may, in lieu 
2.9 	of advertising for bids, sell at public auction to the highest responsible bidder a building 
2.10 	constructed or to be constructed by a secondary or postsecondary school student or class 
2.11 	as a school assignment. A board shall publish notice of a sale at least two weeks before 
2.12 	the sale in the official newspaper of the district, or in the case of a cooperative center, in 
2.13 	the official newspapers newspaper of each of the member districts district, and may, at 
2.14 	its discretion, publish additional notice in the official paper or elsewhere, including an 
2.15 	official board or district Web site. A building may be withdrawn from sale prior to the 
2.16 	completion of before completing the sale unless the auction has been announced to be 
2.17 	without reserve. If the sale is made at public auction, a duly licensed auctioneer must be 
2.18 	retained to conduct the sale. The auctioneer shall be paid from the proceeds of the sale or 
2.19 	from any funds available to the board which are not otherwise restricted or encumbered.  

2.20 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

2.21 	Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 123B.38, is amended to read:
2.22 	123B.38 HEARING.
2.23 	Before the initiation of initiating any fee not authorized or prohibited by sections 
2.24 	123B.36 and 123B.37, the local board must hold a public hearing within the district upon 
2.25 	three weeks published notice in the district's official newspaper or on the district's official 
2.26 	Web site, or such notice as is otherwise required for a regular board meeting given three 
2.27 	weeks before the hearing on the proposed adoption of the a proposal to adopt a policy.  

2.28 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

2.29 	Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 123B.51, subdivision 5, is amended to read:
2.30 		Subd. 5.Schoolhouse closing. The board may close a schoolhouse only after a 
2.31 	public hearing on the question of the necessity and practicability of the proposed closing. 
3.1 	Published notice of the hearing shall be given for two weeks in the official newspaper of 
3.2 	the district. The district may specify the time and place of the meeting, the description 
3.3 	and location of the schoolhouse, and a statement of the reasons for the closing must 
3.4 	be specified in the notice on the district's official Web site. Parties requesting to give 
3.5 	testimony for and against the proposal shall be heard by the board before it makes a final 
3.6 	decision to close or not to close the schoolhouse.

3.7 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

3.8 	Sec. 6. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 123B.52, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
3.9 		Subdivision 1.Contracts. A contract for work or labor, or for the purchase of 
3.10 	furniture, fixtures, or other property, except books registered under the copyright laws, or 
3.11 	for the construction or repair of school houses, the estimated cost or value of which shall 
3.12 	exceed that specified in section 471.345, subdivision 3, must not be made by the school 
3.13 	board without first advertising for bids or proposals by two weeks' published notice in the 
3.14 	official newspaper. This That portion of the notice must state stating the time and place 
3.15 	of for receiving bids and contain a brief description of describing the subject matter of the 
3.16 	bids must be published in the official district newspaper or on the district's official Web site. 
3.17 	Additional publication in the official newspaper or elsewhere, including a district's 
3.18 	official Web site, may be made as the board shall deem necessary.
3.19 	After taking into consideration conformity with the specifications, terms of delivery, 
3.20 	and other conditions imposed in the call for bids, every such contract for which a call for 
3.21 	bids has been issued must be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, be duly executed 
3.22 	in writing, and be otherwise conditioned as required by law. The person to whom the 
3.23 	contract is awarded shall give a sufficient bond to the board for its faithful performance. 
3.24 	Notwithstanding section 574.26 or any other law to the contrary, on a contract limited 
3.25 	to the purchase of a finished tangible product, a board may require, at its discretion, a 
3.26 	performance bond of a contractor in the amount the board considers necessary. A record 
3.27 	must be kept of all bids, with names of bidders and amount of bids, and with the successful 
3.28 	bid indicated thereon. A bid containing an alteration or erasure of any price contained in 
3.29 	the bid which is used in determining the lowest responsible bid must be rejected unless the 
3.30 	alteration or erasure is corrected as provided in this section. An alteration or erasure may 
3.31 	be crossed out and the correction thereof printed in ink or typewritten adjacent thereto and 
3.32 	initialed in ink by the person signing the bid. In the case of identical low bids from two or 
3.33 	more bidders, the board may, at its discretion, utilize negotiated procurement methods 
3.34 	with the tied low bidders for that particular transaction, so long as the price paid does not 
3.35 	exceed the low tied bid price. In the case where only a single bid is received, the board 
4.1 	may, at its discretion, negotiate a mutually agreeable contract with the bidder so long as 
4.2 	the price paid does not exceed the original bid. If no satisfactory bid is received, the 
4.3 	board may readvertise. Standard requirement price contracts established for supplies or 
4.4 	services to be purchased by the district must be established by competitive bids. Such 
4.5 	standard requirement price contracts may contain escalation clauses and may provide for a 
4.6 	negotiated price increase or decrease based upon a demonstrable industrywide or regional 
4.7 	increase or decrease in the vendor's costs. Either party to the contract may request that the 
4.8 	other party demonstrate such increase or decrease. The term of such contracts must not 
4.9 	exceed two years with an option on the part of the district to renew for an additional two 
4.10 	years. Contracts for the purchase of purchasing perishable food items, except milk for 
4.11 	school lunches and vocational training programs, in any amount may be made by direct 
4.12 	negotiation by obtaining two or more written quotations for the purchase or sale, when 
4.13 	possible, without advertising for bids or otherwise complying with the requirements of 
4.14 	this section or section 471.345, subdivision 3. All quotations obtained shall be kept on file 
4.15 	for a period of at least one year after receipt. 
4.16 	Every contract made without compliance complying with the provisions of this 
4.17 	section shall be is void. Except in the case of the destruction of buildings or injury thereto, 
4.18 	where the public interest would suffer by delay, contracts for repairs may be made without 
4.19 	advertising for bids.

4.20 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

4.21 	Sec. 7. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 123B.52, subdivision 1a, is amended to read:
4.22 		Subd. 1a.Construction contracts. A project labor agreement is a hiring agreement 
4.23 	that establishes wages, uniform work schedules, and rules for dispute resolution to manage 
4.24 	construction projects that generally require, among other things, payment of union dues 
4.25 	or fees to a labor organization or membership in or affiliation with a labor organization. 
4.26 	A school board must adopt at a public meeting a written resolution authorizing a project 
4.27 	labor agreement to construct or repair a facility through a contract or bid. The board must 
4.28 	publish in the official newspaper of the district, and may publish on the official Web site of 
4.29 	the district, notice of the meeting at least 30 days in advance.

4.30 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

4.31 	Sec. 8. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 123B.71, subdivision 12, is amended to read:
4.32 		Subd. 12.Publication. (a) At least 20 days but not more than 60 days before a 
4.33 	referendum for bonds or solicitation of bids for a project that has received a positive or 
5.1 	unfavorable review and comment under section 123B.70, the school board shall publish a 
5.2 	summary of the commissioner's review and comment of that project in the legal newspaper 
5.3 	of the district; the district may publish the substance of the summary on the district's 
5.4 	official Web site. Supplementary information in an electronic format or another format 
5.5 	shall be available to the public.
5.6 	(b) The publication requirement in paragraph (a) does not apply to alternative 
5.7 	facilities projects approved under section 123B.59.

5.8 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

5.9 	Sec. 9. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 205A.07, is amended to read:
5.10 	205A.07 NOTICE.
5.11 		Subdivision 1.Publication and posting. The clerk of a school district shall give 
5.12 	two weeks' published notice and give ten days' posted notice of a school district primary, 
5.13 	general, or special election, stating the time of the election, the location of each polling 
5.14 	place, the offices to be filled, and all propositions or questions to be voted upon at the 
5.15 	primary, general, or special election. The notice shall be posted in the administrative 
5.16 	offices of the school district for public inspection. In addition, the district clerk may post 
5.17 	the notice of an election on the district's official Web site.
5.18 		Subd. 2.Sample ballot, posting. For every school district primary, general, or 
5.19 	special election, the school district clerk shall at least four days before the primary, general, 
5.20 	or special election, post a sample ballot in the administrative offices of the school district 
5.21 	for public inspection, and shall post a sample ballot in each polling place on election day.
5.22 	In addition, the district clerk may post a sample ballot on the district's official Web site.
5.23 		Subd. 3.Notice to auditor. At least 67 days before every school district election 
5.24 	held in conjunction with a regularly scheduled primary for federal, state, county, city, or 
5.25 	school board office or a special primary for federal office, at least 74 days before every 
5.26 	school district election held in conjunction with a regularly scheduled general election for 
5.27 	federal, state, county, city, or school board office or a special election for federal office, 
5.28 	and at least 53 days before any other school district election, the school district clerk shall 
5.29 	provide a written or electronic notice to the county auditor of each county in which the 
5.30 	school district is located. The notice must include the date of the election, the offices to be 
5.31 	voted on at the election, and the title and language for each ballot question to be voted 
5.32 	on at the election. For the purposes of meeting the timelines of this section, in a bond 
5.33 	election, a notice, including a proposed question, may be provided to the county auditor 
5.34 	before receipt of receiving a review and comment from the commissioner of education 
6.1 	and before actual initiation of actually initiating the election. At least 67 days before every 
6.2 	school district election held in conjunction with a regularly scheduled primary for federal, 
6.3 	state, county, city, or school board office or a special primary for federal office, at least 74 
6.4 	days before an election held in conjunction with a regularly scheduled general election 
6.5 	for federal, state, county, city, or school board office or a special election for federal 
6.6 	office, and at least 46 days before any other election, the school district clerk must provide 
6.7 	written or electronic notice to the county auditor of any special election canceled under 
6.8 	section 205A.05, subdivision 3.
6.9 		Subd. 3a.Notice to commissioner of education. At least 67 days before every 
6.10 	school district election held in conjunction with a regularly scheduled primary for federal, 
6.11 	state, county, city, or school board office or a special primary for federal office, at least 74 
6.12 	days before every school district election held in conjunction with a regularly scheduled 
6.13 	general election for federal, state, county, city, or school board office or a special election 
6.14 	for federal office, and at least 49 days before any other school district election, under 
6.15 	section 123B.62, 123B.63, 126C.17, 126C.69, or 475.58, the school district clerk shall 
6.16 	provide a written or electronic notice to the commissioner of education. The notice must 
6.17 	include the date of the election and the title and language for each ballot question to 
6.18 	be voted on at the election. At least 67 days before every school district election held 
6.19 	in conjunction with a regularly scheduled primary for federal, state, county, city, or 
6.20 	school board office or a special primary for federal office, at least 74 days before every 
6.21 	school district election held in conjunction with a regularly scheduled general election 
6.22 	for federal, state, county, city, or school board office or a special election for federal 
6.23 	office, and at least 46 days before any other school district election, the school district 
6.24 	clerk must provide a written or electronic notice to the commissioner of education of 
6.25 	any special election canceled under section 205A.05, subdivision 3. The certified vote 
6.26 	totals for each ballot question shall be provided in a written or electronic notice to the 
6.27 	commissioner in a timely manner.
6.28 		Subd. 3b.Notice to secretary of state. At least 67 days before every school 
6.29 	district election held in conjunction with a regularly scheduled primary for federal, state, 
6.30 	county, city, or school board office or a special primary for federal office, at least 74 
6.31 	days before every school district election held in conjunction with a regularly scheduled 
6.32 	general election for federal, state, county, city, or school board office or a special election 
6.33 	for federal office, and at least 46 days before any other school district election for which 
6.34 	a notice is provided to the county auditor under subdivision 3, the county auditor shall 
6.35 	provide a notice of the election to the secretary of state, in a manner and including 
6.36 	information prescribed by the secretary of state.
7.1 		Subd. 4.No additional posting requirements. A school district is only required to 
7.2 	comply with the election posting requirements specified in the Minnesota Election Law 
7.3 	and the education code and is not required to comply with additional posting requirements 
7.4 	specified in any other law.

7.5 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

7.6 	Sec. 10. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 645.13, is amended to read:
7.7 	645.13 TIME; PUBLICATION FOR SUCCESSIVE WEEKS.
7.8 	When the term "successive weeks" is used in any law providing for the publishing of 
7.9 	notices, the word "weeks" shall be construed as calendar weeks. The publication upon any 
7.10 	day of such weeks shall be sufficient publication for that week, but at least five days shall 
7.11 	elapse between each publication. At least the number of weeks specified in "successive 
7.12 	weeks" shall elapse between the first publication and the day for the happening of the 
7.13 	event for which the publication is made. Where notice is published using an electronic 
7.14 	format, the term "successive weeks" must be construed consistent with the parameters 
7.15 	of that format.

7.16 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

7.17 	Sec. 11.  REPEALER.
 7.18 	Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 123B.143, is repealed.

7.19 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.