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Minnesota Department of Education Agency Finance Director André Prahl will update members on the status of the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding for schools, how schools can work with counties to access aid, and give an outlook on the financial support for schools in the upcoming state budget - which is facing a more than $2 billion deficit.
 
Webinar
When: 1 p.m. Thursday,  
August 20, 2020   

MSBA will make a  
recording of this webinar  available the following day.

 
Safe Learning Plan 2020-21


August 17, 2020
3rd Special Session Recap and
Ideas for District COVID Story
Recap for Government Relations team's Summer Seminar presentations
Thanks to everyone who joined us for one or both of our presentations during Summer Seminar.  Opening night, the Government Relations (GR) team presented "From Idea to Legislation - Help Drive the Change".  We looked at how different advocacy structures work throughout Minnesota. From responding to a legislative alert to building a team of advocates in your school district, we explored how you can garner best practices and implement them in your district. A Roadmap to Advocacy guided us on that journey and within it were several ideas and suggestions to help drive the change needed.

One suggested piece of the roadmap was to know your district's COVID-19 story - what unplanned expenditures is your district experiencing.  The GR team has developed an outline to help you create and tell your COVID-19 story. We encourage you to use for discussions with legislative candidates and others.

The second presentation from the GR Team expounded on the COVID-19 story with "What could our schools look like in the future given the policy and funding implications of COVID-19? The presentation looked at potential legislation that we may see in response to lessons learned from distance learning. There were several links shared in that presentation and we are posting them here again for your convenience:


Education Finance Division Update
The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) shared an update with the House Education Finance Division last Wednesday morning. The informational hearing  focused on Executive Order 20-82, the Safe Learning Plan for 2020-21 Guidance, and federal funds for K-12 public schools that relate to COVID-19. A copy of the presentation can be found here and the proposed Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF) for schools districts can be found here.

Special Session Update
The third special session began and ended last Wednesday, August 12. The session, as expected, was short due to recent bond sales.
We expect another special session to be called September 11, or thereabouts and perhaps a bond/tax bill can be worked out then.

Minnesota School Boards Association | 507-934-8133 | msba@mnmsba.org
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St. Paul, MN 55103