SF3870

Purpose

This bill updates Minnesota K-12 education policy to improve access, safety, and learning for all students. It focuses on students experiencing homelessness or who are migratory, strengthens how academic standards and curriculum are developed, and enhances bullying prevention with more supportive approaches. It also makes changes that affect charter schools and state agency policy related to education.

Key provisions for students in need

• Homeless students (Education of Children Experiencing Homelessness)

  • Defines homelessness to include a wide range of living situations and says districts must identify and designate a homeless liaison.
  • Requires immediate enrollment in school for homeless children, even if records (like prior records or proof of residency) are missing, and defines enrollment as attending classes and participating in school activities within one school day.
  • Requires schools to provide educational services and supports, including transportation to the school of origin when in the child’s best interest, removal of enrollment barriers, and coordination with housing, social, and mental health services.
  • Allows a child experiencing homelessness to stay in the school of origin for the duration of homelessness or through the end of the academic year in which permanent housing is obtained, with a presumption that remaining in the school of origin is in the child’s best interest unless the parent/guardian or unaccompanied youth objects.
  • Mandates rapid transfer of educational and health records and includes a dispute-resolution process that enables immediate enrollment in the requested school pending resolution.
  • Defines and protects unaccompanied homeless youth.

• Migratory children (Education of Migratory Children)

  • Defines migratory children as those who move for economic reasons in the past 36 months to engage in temporary or seasonal agricultural or fishing work, or to join a parent or guardian for that work.
  • Requires immediate enrollment upon identification, even without typical enrollment records.
  • Requires educational services to address unique needs, including supplemental instruction, support for educational disruption, and coordination with other programs.
  • Ensures continuity of services by expediting record transfers and facilitating appropriate course placement.

Standards, curriculum, and equity

• Standards development (Statewide standards)

  • The education commissioner must seek input from a broad set of stakeholders, including parents, teachers, principals, school boards, postsecondary faculty, business representatives, Tribal Nations Education Committee, and current students (with Youth Council involvement).
  • Academic standards must be clear, concise, objective, measurable, grade-appropriate, and not tied to a single teaching method or curriculum; must align with the U.S. and Minnesota constitutions.

• Definitions for instruction, curriculum, and readiness

  • Instruction: methods used to help students meet standards and graduation requirements, including applied and experiential learning.
  • Curriculum: adopted programs and plans for student learning.
  • Comprehensive achievement and civic readiness: goals to close racial/ethnic and poverty gaps, ensure career and college readiness, and promote graduation and lifelong learning.
  • Experiential learning: work-based experiences such as internships, job shadowing, mentoring, service learning, entrepreneurship, and other opportunities.
  • Ethnic studies and culturally responsive terms: Ethnic studies may be integrated or offered separately; antiracist means actively eliminating racism; culturally sustaining means infusing culture and language of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities; institutional racism refers to structures and practices that disadvantage these communities.

Bullying interventions and supports

• Purpose and approach

  • Aims to create safe, supportive, and inclusive school environments, recognizing that punitive responses alone do not address underlying causes of bullying.

• Definitions

  • Actor: a student who bullies; Target: a student who experiences bullying; Supportive interventions: covers trauma-informed assessment, mental health services, restorative practices, counseling, and tailored supports.

• Required supports

  • Schools must provide supportive interventions for both targets and actors. For actors, supports may include trauma or mental health assessments, access to services, empathy and conflict-resolution skill-building, and parent/guardian involvement where appropriate.
  • For targets, supports include counseling, mental health services, and resources to restore safety and well-being.
  • Interventions must be applied equitably and not disproportionately exclude or punish students based on race, ethnicity, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or other protected characteristics.

• Policy alignment and timeline

  • Districts and charter schools must review and revise their bullying prevention policies to align with the bill’s language, removing references to remedial responses and replacing them with comprehensive supportive interventions.
  • Updated policies must be adopted before the start of the 2027-2028 school year.

Changes to existing law and policy

• Expands protections and supports for homeless and migratory students, including immediate enrollment and school-of-origin considerations.
• Emphasizes stakeholder involvement in setting statewide standards and clarifies expectations for what counts as instruction, curriculum, and readiness.
• Introduces explicit language on ethnic studies, antiracist work, culturally sustaining practices, and addressing institutional racism.
• Reframes bullying responses toward trauma-informed, equitable, and supportive approaches rather than solely punitive measures.
• Requires charter schools and related state education policies to align with these new standards and practices, with concrete deadlines.

Implementation timeline and compliance

• Policies related to bullying prevention must be updated and adopted by districts and charter schools before the 2027-2028 school year.
• Ongoing implementation includes rapid enrollment, record transfers, and coordinated services for homeless and migratory students.

Relevant to: kindergarten definition, homelessness, school of origin, immediate enrollment, records transfer, dispute resolution, unaccompanied youth, migratory children, educational services, continuity of services, experiential learning, ethnic studies, antiracist, culturally sustaining, institutional racism, bullying interventions, supportive interventions, policy alignment, charters, state agencies.

Relevant Terms - Kindergarten - Homelessness / homeless student - School of origin - Immediate enrollment - Records transfer - Dispute resolution - Unaccompanied homeless youth - Migratory child - Educational services - Continuity of services - Transportation to school of origin - Best interest - Stakeholders / governance (parents, teachers, principals, boards, Tribal Nations) - Standards development - Academic standards - Instruction - Curriculum - Comprehensive achievement and civic readiness - Experiential learning - Ethnic studies - Antiracist - Culturally sustaining - Institutional racism - Bullying interventions and supports - Actor / Target - Trauma-informed care - Restorative practices - Counseling - Equitable implementation - Policy alignment - 2027-2028 school year deadline