STATE OF MINNESOTA TWENTY-NINTH MEETING
MN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NINETY FIRST SESSION
EDUCATION FINANCE DIVISION
MINUTES
Representative Jim Davnie, Chair of the Education Finance Division, called the meeting to order at 9:48 am on March 28, 2019 in Room 5 of the State Office Building.
The Committee Legislative Assistant noted the roll.
Members present:
DAVNIE, Jim
SANDSTEDE, Julie
KRESHA, Ron
BENNETT, Peggy
DANIELS, Brian
DEMUTH, Lisa
DETTMER, Bob
EDELSON, Heather
ERICKSON, Sondra
HUOT, John
JURGENS, Tony
KOTYZA-WITTHUHN, Carlie
KUNESH-PODEIN, Mary
MARQUART, Paul
MURPHY, Mary
NORNES, Bud
PRYOR, Laurie
RICHARDSON, Ruth
SANDELL, Steve
YOUAKIM, Cheryl
A quorum was present.
HF 1980 (Marquart) The Long-Term Facilities Maintenance (LTFM) program provides most school districts with up to $380 per pupil per year in revenue for deferred maintenance projects. Under current law, an intermediate school district and certain other cooperatives may issue bonds for these deferred maintenance projects, and these bonds are repaid with transfers of revenue from the member school districts. HF 1980 includes other joint powers organizations in this authority as long as a resolution has been adopted stating how the costs will be allocated among the member school districts. School districts may lease instructional space. A school district’s lease levy is limited to $212 per pupil, except that a school district that is a member of an intermediate district may levy up to an additional $65 per pupil for the intermediate’s facility costs. HF 1980 extends the building lease levy to all types of cooperative unites (special education cooperatives, Service Co-ops, education districts, etc.)
Rep. Marquart moved the HF 1980 be presented before the committee; be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report.
Rep. Marquart presented HF 1980.
Rep. Marquart renewed the motion that HF 1980 be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report. The bill was laid over.
HF 1979 (Marquart) Provides a grant of $3 million to the Lakes Country Service Cooperative to support its level 4 program for students from its member districts during the program’s first few years of operation.
Rep. Marquart moved that HF 1979 be presented before the committee; be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report.
Rep. Marquart presented HF 1979.
Rep. Marquart renewed the motion that HF 1979 be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report. The bill was laid over.
HF 1749 (Urdahl) Relating to education; appropriating money for grants to civics education programs.
Rep. Huot moved that HF 1749 be presented before the committee; be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report.
Rep. Urdahl presented HF 1749.
Rep. Huot renewed the motion that HF 1749 be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report. The bill was laid over.
HF 1204 (Pryor) Requires the Department of Education to provide assistance to school districts related to Title IX compliance. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 protects persons from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance. Title IX applies to state and local educational agencies, including school districts, colleges, and universities and charter schools. The law requires these agencies to operate in a nondiscriminatory manner and prohibits retaliation for opposing a practice prohibited by Title IX. Title IX regulations require covered agencies to designate at least one employee as a Title IX coordinator, who must coordinate the agency’s compliance efforts. The law is enforced by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR).
Rep. Pryor moved that HF 1204 be presented before the committee; be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report.
Rep. Pryor presented HF 1204.
Rep. Pryor renewed the motion that HF 1204 be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report. The bill was laid over.
HF 2695 (Claflin) Proposes to increase career and technical revenue from 35 to 50 percent of eligible expenditures and increases equalization aid, holding the statewide career and technical levy unchanged and increasing the aid by $13.5 million.
Rep. Murphy moved that HF 2695 be presented before the committee; be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report.
Rep. Murphy moved that the amendment to HF 2695, A1, be adopted by the committee. Motion prevailed.
Rep. Claflin presented HF 2695, as amended.
Rep. Murphy renewed the motion that HF 2695, as amended, be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report. The bill was laid over.
Testifiers:
Fred Nolan, Executive Director, Minnesota Rural Education Association
Jeremy Kovash, Executive Director, Lakes Country Service Cooperative
Doug Froke, Superintendent, Detroit Lakes Public Schools
Dessica Veum, Director of Special Education, Lakes County Academies
Jennifer Bloom, Executive Director, Learning Law and Democracy Foundation
Jill Stewart-Kellar, Principal, 916 CTE Program
Tom Appel, Executive Director, Minnesota Association of Agricultural Educators
Additional Testifiers:
James Farnsworth, MNYIG
Orville Lindquist, YMCA Youth in Government
Rebecca Biel, Minnesota Civil Education, Education Coalition
Rick Heller, Advocate
Peg Larsen, Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault
The meeting of the Education Finance Division was recessed at 10:59 am.
The meeting of the Education Finance Division was reconvened at 5:46 pm.
Rep. Sandstede moved that the minutes from March 27, 2019 be approved. Motion prevailed.
HF 2259 (Backer) Allows the Breckenridge school district to enter into an agreement with a postsecondary education institution North Dakota. The agreement would allow high school students in the school district to receive college credit for a course taught at the high school or at another location including the postsecondary institution.
Rep. Jurgens moved that HF 2259 be presented before the committee; be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report.
Rep. Backer presented HF 2259.
Rep. Jurgens renewed the motion that HF 2259 be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report. The bill was laid over.
HF 2046 (Pryor) As amended, authorizes any charter school located within the borders of the Hopkins school district to fold its programming into the school district’s operation. This bill specifies how the charter school’s assets and liabilities are handled, reserves any positive fund balance transferred for the specific programs that the charter school formerly provided, adjusts the calculation of state aids to reflect the combined programming, and authorizes the Hopkins school district to spread a unspecified levy amount over three or fewer years to account for the program’s merger.
Rep. Youakim moved that HF 2046 be presented before the committee; be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report.
Rep. Youakim moved that the A1 amendment to HF 2046 be adopted by the committee. Motion prevailed.
Rep. Youakim presented HF 2046, as amended.
Rep. Youakim renewed the motion that HF 2046, as amended, be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report. The bill was laid over.
HF 1052 (Noor) Addresses the intersection of three different K-12 education provisions. First, the graduation incentives program allows qualifying students to receive instruction in a variety of alternative settings. A student qualifies to participate in the graduation incentive program if the student meets any of the risk factors listed in the graduation incentive program statute. Second, state statutes limit K-12 funding for nonspecial education students to those students who have not yet graduated from high school and who are under the age of 21. Third, the postsecondary enrollment options program generally does not allow a student to take a developmental or remedial course under the PSEO program, unless the student is enrolled ina n early middle college program. This bill makes permanent a provision that applied only to the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 school years that allows early middle college programs to serve students who are older than 21 but not yet 22 years old and requires a student to meet at least three of the five statutory conditions to be eligible for the program.
Rep. Sandell moved that HF 1052 be presented before the committee; be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report.
Chair Davnie moved that the A19-0291 amendment to HF 1052 be adopted by the committee. Motion prevailed.
Rep. Noor presented HF 1052, as amended.
Rep. Sandell renewed the motion that HF 1052, as amended, be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report. The bill was laid over.
HF 1807 (Sandstede) As amended, appropriates $2 million from the general fund to the commissioner of education for grants to school districts located in the taconite assistance area for collaborative summer school programs. Authorizes two or more qualifying school districts to form a collaborative to operate a program at least three weeks in length. Encourages the school collaborative to include community partners. Authorizes the collaborative to focus on one or more specific curricular areas where instruction is provided by licensed teachers. Encourages the collaborative to provide transportation to and from the program.
Rep. Sandstede moved that HF 1807 be presented before the committee; be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report.
Rep. Sandstede moved that the DE3 amendment to HF 1807 be adopted by the committee. Motion prevailed.
Rep. Sandstede presented HF 1807, as amended.
Rep. Sandstede renewed the motion that HF 1807, as amended, be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report. The bill was laid over.
HF 845 (Lislegard) Authorizes a higher lease levy amount for school districts that both qualify for sparsity revenue and have more than one high school. There are four school districts that meet this criteria. This bill increases the maximum lease levy from $212 per pupil to $650 per pupil.
Rep. Sandstede moved that HF 845 be presented before the committee; be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report.
Rep. Lislegard presented HF 845.
Rep. Sandstede renewed the motion that HF 845 be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report. The bill was laid over.
HF 1056 (Moran) For a few years, Minnesota provided state aid to promise neighborhoods and achievement zones. In 2017, the funding was consolidated into a single two-tiered program and codified in Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.99, as the Education Partnerships Coalition Fund. This program supports a coalition of coordinated, education partnerships providing a network of evidence-based support services. The programs are designed to close opportunity gaps by improving educational and developmental outcomes of children and their families. The 2017 Legislature funded the Northside Achievement Zone in Minneapolis and the St. Paul Promise Neighborhood at $1.3 million per year, and provided $160,000 each year for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 to the Northfield Healthy Community Initiative, the Jones Family Foundation for the Every Hand Joined program in Red Wing, and the United way of Central Minnesota for the Partners for Student Success program. This bill adds to the list of positive characteristics of qualifying partnerships to include: collecting and utilizing data to improve student outcomes, sharing disaggregated performance data, employing continuous improvement processes, and demonstrating an ability to leverage non-state funds. This bill also proposes a third tier of grants and increases funding for the program.
Rep. Richardson moved that HF 1056 be presented before the committee; be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report.
Rep. Richardson moved that the A1 amendment to HF 1056 be adopted by the committee. Motion prevailed.
Rep. Moran presented HF 1056, as amended.
Rep. Richardson renewed the motion that HF 1056, as amended, be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report. The bill was laid over.
HF 2039 (Moran) Relating to education; appropriating money for trauma-informed school incentive aid.
Rep. Edelson moved that HF 2039 be presented before the committee; be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report.
Rep. Edelson moved that the A19-0290 amendment to HF 2039 be adopted by the committee. Motion prevailed.
Rep. Moran presented HF 2039, as amended.
Rep. Edelson renewed the motion that HF 2039, as amended, be laid over for possible inclusion in a future division report. The bill was laid over.
Testifiers:
Diane Cordes, Superintendent, Breckenridge Public Schools
Dr. Rhoda Mhiripiri-Reed, Superintendent, Hopkins Public Schools
John Toop, Director of Business Services, Hopkins Public Schools
Karen Terhaar, Director of Teaching, Learning, & Assessment
Osvin Navas, Student
Marlene Valesco Gomez, Student
Aisha Abdi, Student
Sahra Mohamud, ST. Thomas University
Jenna Peters, Principal, Richardson Elementary, North St. Paul, Maplewood, & Oakdale
Kelly Holstine, 2018 Minnesota Teacher of the Year
Cathy Dalnes, Social Worker, Minneapolis
Dr. Carlton Jenkins, Superintendent, Robbinsdale
Joe Jezierski, Head of Teaching & Cirriculum, Red Wing Public Schools
Sadam Omar, Community Resource Navigator, Discovery Elementary School, St. Cloud
Ebony Young, Education Partnership Coalition
Karla Smith, Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ) Education Partnership
Reggie Engebritson, Superintendent, St. Louis county Schools, ID 2142
Greg Crowe, Financial Advisor
Additional Testifiers:
Amy Fearing, Principal, Wellstone, Minneapolis Schools
John Gavin, District 622
Rick Heller, Advocate
Jeffrey Coleman, Educator for Excellence
The meeting was of the Education Finance Division was adjourned at 8:11 pm.
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Representative Jim Davnie, Chair
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Brittney Sunderland, Committee Legislative Assistant