Local Schools Preparing to Weather Shutdown

State aid to school districts must continue during a, according to a ruling Wednesday morning by Ramsey County District Court Judge Kathleen Gearin.

Because the Minnesota constitution requires a “general and uniform system of public schools,” the ruling makes funding education a core function of government. Consequently, education aid payments will continue to flow to school districts.

But those payments—for general education aid, property tax credits, and debt service equalization aid—only account for a portion of a school district's annual operating budget. Without the approval of a K-12 budget bill at the Capitol, the state will not fund special education or compensatory education programs—often sizeable chunks of a school’s annual budget.

In response, many school boards have passed, or plan to pass, an emergency cash flow borrowing plan to make up any gap from a shortfall in state funding. Also, many schools may dip into their district fund balance, or school savings, to continue normal operations.

St. Louis Park schools currently have a $4.4 million line of credit secured, said Sandy Salin, the district's director of business services. Salin said that should keep the district going until mid- to late-August, but after that, the district will need additional funds.

"We’re assuming the worst-case scenario," Salin added.

LICENSING WOES
Besides hitting school district budgets, the state shutdown has essentially closed the doors to the Minnesota Department of Education. That means many schools will now have to contend with expiring teacher licenses.

Teachers must regularly renew their licenses with the Minnesota Board of Teaching, showing that they met certain professional development milestones since their last renewal, among other regulations. New teachers also need licenses, and because many school districts across the state hire many of their new teachers during summer months, many new teachers may find themselves with a job but without a license to teach.

Following a series of stories in the Star Tribune that highlighted the lack of the enforcement of the state’s licensing rules, the state vowed to crack down on districts flouting the law. Possible sanctions could include the withholding of state aid for districts that don’t correct licensing violations in a timely manner. A board official could not be reached for comment at the time of publication, but in a shutdown-specific list of Frequently Asked Questions posted on its website, it said districts were allowed to apply for special waivers starting Thursday that would keep them out of legal trouble.

STATE TESTING
Critical student test scores will also be delayed during the shutdown because the MDE will be operating with a six-person crew.

The results from the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments essentially drive instruction at Minnesota schools by measuring a school's “Adequate Yearly Progress,” or AYP. Because many districts decide on curriculum changes in August—after the tests results are published—schools across the state will be without a way to see where educational gaps exist and correct any problems.

These tests are also important because they’re used under the federal No Child Left Behind Act to determine whether a school has made AYP. If districts and schools receiving Title I funding fail to meet AYP goals for two or more consecutive years, they are classified as “in need of improvement” and face a battery of potential consequences.

The state is responsible for submitting the local test results to the Federal Department of Education for evaluation. Without the staff to submit those results, an extended shutdown could mean Minnesota schools would miss the federal deadline to turn in their AYP scores—set 14 days before school begins.

MDE Acting Director of School Improvement Steve Dibb spoke to Patch just a few hours before the department’s doors were to close Thursday and said, “We’re not feeling very positive.”

He said it was unclear exactly how the shutdown would affect or delay test scores from getting into educators’ hands because the impact was contingent on how long the shutdown lasts.

“If (the shutdown lasts) a day or two, there probably won’t be much of an effect,” he said. “If it turns into a few weeks of a shutdown then the reports would be delayed … How long? We don’t know … We haven’t had this happen before.”

But a U.S. Department of Education spokeswoman told Patch that if the shutdown continues, the MDE can apply for a waiver of the federal reporting deadline, calling the shutdown an “unforeseen, mitigating circumstance,” and predicting that the a school district “would get a sympathetic review from the USDOE since it would get the same treatment as a natural disaster that impedes state operations.”