MDE presents agency education policy bill outlining McKinney-Vento codification, bullying updates and charter-school fixes

Commissioner Willie Jett, of the Minnesota Department of Education, told the Senate Education Policy Committee on March 18 that the agency's policy bill, Senate File 3,870, is chiefly technical but designed to strengthen local implementation and clarify state law. "These students and their families often face the significant disruption and instability," Jett said, describing provisions to put certain federal protections into state statute.

MDE said the bill would codify existing McKinney-Vento protections for students experiencing homelessness and for migratory students, and would explicitly extend the state-level protections to public preschool settings currently serving those children. It would also update Minnesota's bullying law to require school safety plans to outline responses for both targets of bullying and the actor, giving districts until the 2027-28 school year to adopt the changes.

MDE staff described clarifying language around active shooter and lockdown drills enacted in 2023, saying the proposed changes reflect guidance the department has already shared so schools face less confusion about definitions and student participation. The bill also contains multiple charter-school accountability and governance changes including revised publication and authorizer rules, updated board membership expectations and new safeguards for charter management organization accounting.

Megan Areola, legislative policy manager for MDE, walked committee members section-by-section, explaining changes to kindergarten definitions, PSEO language and a proposal to amend the review process for instructional materials. Areola said many changes were intended to align state statute with federal law and existing department guidance without imposing additional staff burdens on districts.

The committee adopted an amendment to prepare the bill for the presentation and heard student testimony earlier in the hearing. No final committee referral or adoption on SF 3,870 was recorded at the time the committee moved on to other agenda items.