SF 2163

as introduced - 92nd Legislature (2021 - 2022) Posted on 08/20/2021 10:15am

A bill for an act
relating to education finance; appropriating money for summer education programs;
amending Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 126C.10, subdivision 2d; Laws 2019,
First Special Session chapter 11, article 1, section 25, subdivision 2, as amended.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1. APPROPRIATIONS; DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.

Subdivision 1.

Department of Education.

The sums in this section are appropriated
from the general fund to the commissioner of education for the fiscal years designated.

Subd. 2.

Community partnerships.

(a) For grants to school districts and charter schools
to partner with community businesses and organizations, such as local businesses, to develop,
implement, and deliver a summer mentor model or tutoring model for students.

$

5,000,000

.....

2021

(b) Grant funds must be used to partner with community businesses and organizations
to deliver mentoring and tutoring programs. Fund uses may include but are not limited to:

(1) contracting with organizations to develop and implement a mentor or tutoring model;

(2) transportation to activities and events that align with the mentor model;

(3) meal reimbursements at events and off-site locations;

(4) neighborhood-based location rentals; and

(5) providing child care for students in credit recovery and other noncapital costs
associated with attending.

(c) Grants are limited to $100,000 per grant recipient.

(d) The department must make all attempts to assure there is equitable distribution of
grant services to entities serving the seven-county metropolitan area and greater Minnesota.

(e) The department must make all attempts to prioritize grant recipients by number of
historically undeserved students.

(f) Eligible grantees include school districts, charter schools, intermediate school districts,
and cooperative units as defined in Minnesota Statutes, section 123A.24, subdivision 2.

(g) Up to two percent of this appropriation is available for grant administration.

(h) This is a onetime appropriation and is available until June 30, 2022.

Subd. 3.

Expand access to tutoring.

(a) For grants to expand access to tutoring services
including academic enrichment, mental health supports, and other wraparound services for
kindergarten through grade 12 children over the summer.

$

3,250,000

.....

2021

(b) Eligible entities must have experience serving youth and include community-based
organizations, faith-based organizations, institutions of higher education, school districts,
charter schools, nonpublic schools, Tribal Nations and other American Indian organizations,
nonprofit agencies, and for-profit corporations.

(c) Grant fund uses may include but are not limited to:

(1) mental health services and supports;

(2) social, emotional, and physical health supports;

(3) summer learning or enrichment programs; or

(4) other activities that are necessary to maintain the operation and continuity of services
in youth development and education, prioritizing the needs of historically underserved
groups.

(d) Grant recipients may develop a partnership between a local school district, charter
school, nonpublic school, or any of the organizations listed in paragraph (b).

(e) Grants are limited to $200,000 per grant recipient.

(f) The department must make all attempts to assure there is equitable distribution of
grant services to entities serving the seven-county metropolitan area and greater Minnesota.

(g) The department must make all attempts to prioritize grant recipients by number of
historically undeserved students.

(h) Eligible grantees include school districts, charter schools, intermediate school districts,
and cooperative units as defined in Minnesota Statutes, section 123A.24, subdivision 2.

(i) Up to two percent of this appropriation is available for grant administration.

(j) This is a onetime appropriation and is available until June 30, 2022.

Subd. 4.

Expand mental health supports.

(a) For grants to school districts and charter
schools to expand mental health and well-being supports to youth and adolescents attending
summer learning programs.

$

1,000,000

.....

2021

(b) Grant funds must be used to pay summer stipends and benefits for student support
personnel to offer summer school students services and programming, which may include
but are not limited to:

(1) one-on-one or group mental health supports;

(2) trauma-informed practices;

(3) evidence-based social and emotional learning district or school-wide programming;
and

(4) other well-being activities like physical activity, mindfulness, and stress-relieving
activities.

(c) Grant recipients may partner with community organizations that work with youth to
provide mental health and well-being supports under this subdivision.

(d) The department must prioritize grant recipients by their number of historically
underserved students.

(e) Up to two percent of this appropriation is available for grant administration.

(f) This is a onetime appropriation and is available until June 30, 2022.

Subd. 5.

Field trips and hands-on learning.

(a) For grants to school districts and charter
schools to fund summer field trips for hands-on learning opportunities.

$

10,000,000

.....

2021

(b) Grant funds will be allocated to school districts and charter schools based on estimated
average daily membership and concentration of students who are eligible for free and
reduced-price lunches or have been historically underserved.

(c) Grant funds must be used pay for the costs of providing field trip opportunities during
the summer. These activities may include but are not limited to transportation, educator
costs and incentives, meal reimbursements, and entry or event fees.

(d) Up to two percent of this appropriation is available for grant administration.

(e) This is a onetime appropriation and is available until June 30, 2022.

Subd. 6.

Increase adult basic education program funding.

(a) For additional funding
to strengthen the Adult Basic Education (ABE) programming statewide to ensure access
to, enhance quality of, and increase the ABE programming available.

$

10,000,000

.....

2021

(b) Up to two percent of this appropriation is available for grant administration.

(c) This is a onetime appropriation and is available until June 30, 2022.

Subd. 7.

Neighborhood programs.

(a) For grants to schools to bring summer
programming into neighborhoods and apartment buildings and to collaborate and, if
appropriate, contract with community-based organizations, libraries, parks and recreation
departments, tribes and tribal organizations, faith-based organizations, and other similar
learning providers to bring summer learning into the community.

$

5,000,000

.....

2021

(b) Grant funds may be for transportation, academic enrichment programming and
associated costs, mental health services, other wraparound services, location rentals, and
meal reimbursements.

(c) Grants may be made in amounts up to $100,000.

(d) The department must make all attempts to prioritize grant recipients by number of
historically undeserved students.

(e) Eligible grantees include school districts, charter schools, intermediate school districts,
and cooperative units as defined in Minnesota Statutes, section 123A.24, subdivision 2.

(f) Up to two percent of this appropriation is available for grant administration.

(g) This is a onetime appropriation and is available until June 30, 2022.

Subd. 8.

Summer preschool for four- and five-year-olds.

(a) For grants to provide
high-quality early learning opportunities to four- and five-year-olds by providing funds to
be used in a three- or four-star-rated private preschool, a public preschool, or a public
prekindergarten in-person learning program.

$

20,000,000

.....

2021

(b)(1) Grant funds of up to $4,800 per enrolled and attending student must be allocated
to children who need additional support, were four or five years old on September 1, 2020,
and have not yet attended kindergarten. Grant funds must be used for applicable program
costs limited to tuition, transportation, food service, and interpreter or multilingual student
support costs.

(2) Prioritization for program participation must take into consideration children who
qualify for free and reduced-price lunch and meet at least one of the following eligibility
categories, with the highest priority to children qualifying under multiple categories:

(i) children in foster care, under child protection, experiencing homelessness, tribally
enrolled, or children of teenage parents; or

(ii) children at risk for or currently receiving supports and services.

(c) In order to qualify for a grant, a summer preschool program must: (1) offer a minimum
of six instructional hours per day, for five days per week, for between ten and 12 weeks;
(2) continue to meet school-year standards of school readiness, voluntary prekindergarten,
school readiness plus, Head Start, or three- or four-star Parent Aware rating; and (3) allow
families to participate on a sliding fee scale for services if space permits.

(d)(1) Programs that qualify under paragraph (c) may apply for grant funding to the
commissioner, in the form and manner prescribed by the commissioner. The application
must indicate the number of students the program has the capacity to serve. The commissioner
must equitably distribute grant funds across school-based, Head Start, and community
preschool and child care programs.

(2) A program that receives grant funds must report student information following the
criteria required under the applicable program type and as determined by the commissioner.

(e) Up to 0.5 percent of this appropriation is available for grant administration.

(f) This is a onetime appropriation and is available until June 30, 2022.

Subd. 9.

Summer college for high school graduates.

(a) For grants to provide students
who graduated in the 2020-2021 school year with secular, college-level academic
programming at a postsecondary institution during the summer of 2021.

$

6,000,000

.....

2021

(b) Grant funds must be used to pay for the actual tuition costs of postsecondary
credit-bearing or developmental courses completed by students.

(c) Grant funds must be used to reimburse actual tuition costs up to a maximum of $512
per course. Should participation exceed the appropriation, the department shall prorate
reimbursements accordingly.

(d) Grant funds must be paid as reimbursements to public institutions of higher education
located in Minnesota in a form and manner determined by the department.

(e) Grant funds awarded under this subdivision may be used to reimburse tuition for
courses taken during the summer 2021 period ending August 15, 2021.

(f) Up to two percent of this appropriation is reserved for grant and program
administration.

(g) This is a onetime appropriation and is available until June 30, 2022.

Sec. 2. APPROPRIATIONS; DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES.

Subdivision 1.

Department of Human Services.

The sum in this section is appropriated
from the general fund to the commissioner of human services for the fiscal year designated.

Subd. 2.

School-linked mental health.

(a) For expanding school-linked mental health
grants. The funding will increase access to federal grants for school-linked mental health
services to provide additional outside one-on-one mental health supports to students. These
funds may be awarded to existing school-linked mental health providers through amending
current contracts.

$

6,011,000

.....

2021

(b) This is a onetime appropriation and is available until June 30, 2022.

Sec. 3. APPROPRIATIONS; DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION.

Subdivision 1.

Office of Higher Education.

The sum in this section is appropriated
from the general fund to the commissioner of higher education for the fiscal year designated.

Subd. 2.

Learning acceleration and college readiness initiatives.

(a) For learning
acceleration and college readiness initiatives and to combat learning loss of historically
underserved students during the summer of 2021.

$

1,125,000

.....

2021

(b) Of this amount, $625,000 is for the summer academic enrichment program under
Minnesota Statutes, section 136A.091.

(c) Of this amount, $500,000 is for the intervention for college attendance program under
Minnesota Statutes, section 136A.861.

(d) This is a onetime appropriation and is available until June 30, 2022.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 126C.10, subdivision 2d, is amended to read:

Subd. 2d.

Declining enrollment revenue.

(a) For fiscal year 2021 only, a school district's
declining enrollment revenue equals the greater of zero or the product of: (1) 48.5 percent
of the formula allowance for that year; and (2) the difference between the adjusted pupil
units for the preceding year and the adjusted pupil units for the current year.

(b) For fiscal year 2022 and later, a school district's declining enrollment revenue equals
the greater of zero or the product of: (1) 28 percent of the formula allowance for that year
and (2) the difference between the adjusted pupil units for the preceding year and the adjusted
pupil units for the current year.

(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), for fiscal year 2022 only, prekindergarten pupil units
under section 126C.05, subdivision 1, paragraph (d), must be excluded from the calculation
of declining enrollment revenue.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective the day following final enactment for
fiscal year 2021 and later.

Sec. 5.

Laws 2019, First Special Session chapter 11, article 1, section 25, subdivision 2,
as amended by Laws 2020, chapter 116, article 6, section 1, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

General education aid.

For general education aid under Minnesota Statutes,
section 126C.13, subdivision 4:

	$	7,347,424,000	.....	2020
	$	7,509,639,000 7,459,233,000	.....	2021

The 2020 appropriation includes $700,383,000 for 2019 and $6,647,041,000 for 2020.

The 2021 appropriation includes $711,885,000 for 2020 and $6,797,754,000
$6,747,348,000 for 2021.