MN Stat § 124D.231 (2021)
2021 Minnesota Statutes|Chapters 120 - 129C — Education Code: Prekindergarten - Grade 12|Chapter 124D — Education Programs|Section 124D.231 — Full-service Community Schools.

124D.231 FULL-SERVICE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS. Subdivision 1. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the meanings given them. (a) "Community organization" means a nonprofit organization that has been in existence for three years or more and serves persons within the community surrounding the covered school site on education and other issues. (b) "Community school consortium" means a group of schools and community organizations that propose to work together to plan and implement community school programming. (c) "Community school programming" means services, activities, and opportunities described under subdivision 2, paragraph (g). (d) "High-quality child care or early childhood education programming" means educational programming for preschool-aged children that is grounded in research, consistent with best practices in the field, and provided by licensed teachers. (e) "School site" means a school site at which an applicant has proposed or has been funded to provide community school programming. (f) "Site coordinator" is an individual who is responsible for aligning programming with the needs of the school community identified in the baseline analysis. Subd. 2. Full-service community school program. (a) The commissioner shall provide funding to eligible school sites to plan, implement, and improve full-service community schools. Eligible school sites must meet one of the following criteria: (1) the school is on a development plan for continuous improvement under section 120B.35, subdivision 2; or (2) the school is in a district that has an achievement and integration plan approved by the commissioner of education under sections 124D.861 and 124D.862. (b) An eligible school site may receive up to $150,000 annually. School sites receiving funding under this section shall hire or contract with a partner agency to hire a site coordinator to coordinate services at each covered school site. (c) Of grants awarded, implementation funding of up to $20,000 must be available for up to one year for planning for school sites. At the end of this period, the school must submit a full-service community school plan, pursuant to paragraph (g). If the site decides not to use planning funds, the plan must be submitted with the application. (d) The commissioner shall consider additional school factors when dispensing funds including: schools with significant populations of students receiving free or reduced-price lunches; significant homeless and highly mobile rates; and equity among urban, suburban, and greater Minnesota schools. (e) A school site must establish a school leadership team responsible for developing school-specific programming goals, assessing program needs, and overseeing the process of implementing expanded programming at each covered site. The school leadership team shall have between 12 to 15 members and shall meet the following requirements: (1) at least 30 percent of the members are parents and 30 percent of the members are teachers at the school site and must include the school principal and representatives from partner agencies; and (2) the school leadership team must be responsible for overseeing the baseline analyses under paragraph (f). A school leadership team must have ongoing responsibility for monitoring the development and implementation of full-service community school operations and programming at the school site and shall issue recommendations to schools on a regular basis and summarized in an annual report. These reports shall also be made available to the public at the school site and on school and district websites. (f) School sites must complete a baseline analysis prior to beginning programming as a full-service community school. The analysis shall include: (1) a baseline analysis of needs at the school site, led by the school leadership team, which shall include the following elements: (i) identification of challenges facing the school; (ii) analysis of the student body, including: (A) number and percentage of students with disabilities and needs of these students; (B) number and percentage of students who are English learners and the needs of these students; (C) number of students who are homeless or highly mobile; and (D) number and percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch and the needs of these students; (iii) analysis of enrollment and retention rates for students with disabilities, English learners, homeless and highly mobile students, and students receiving free or reduced-price lunch; (iv) analysis of suspension and expulsion data, including the justification for such disciplinary actions and the degree to which particular populations, including, but not limited to, students of color, students with disabilities, students who are English learners, and students receiving free or reduced-price lunch are represented among students subject to such actions; (v) analysis of school achievement data disaggregated by major demographic categories, including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, English learner status, disability status, and free or reduced-price lunch status; (vi) analysis of current parent engagement strategies and their success; and (vii) evaluation of the need for and availability of wraparound services, including, but not limited to: (A) mechanisms for meeting students' social, emotional, and physical health needs, which may include coordination of existing services as well as the development of new services based on student needs; and (B) strategies to create a safe and secure school environment and improve school climate and discipline, such as implementing a system of positive behavioral supports, and taking additional steps to eliminate bullying; (2) a baseline analysis of community assets and a strategic plan for utilizing and aligning identified assets. This analysis should include, but is not limited to, a documentation of individuals in the community, faith-based organizations, community and neighborhood associations, colleges, hospitals, libraries, businesses, and social service agencies who may be able to provide support and resources; and (3) a baseline analysis of needs in the community surrounding the school, led by the school leadership team, including, but not limited to: (i) the need for high-quality, full-day child care and early childhood education programs; (ii) the need for physical and mental health care services for children and adults; and (iii) the need for job training and other adult education programming. (g) Each school site receiving funding under this section must establish at least two of the following types of programming: (1) early childhood: (i) early childhood education; and (ii) child care services; (2) academic: (i) academic support and enrichment activities, including expanded learning time; (ii) summer or after-school enrichment and learning experiences; (iii) job training, internship opportunities, and career counseling services; (iv) programs that provide assistance to students who have been truant, suspended, or expelled; and (v) specialized instructional support services; (3) parental involvement: (i) programs that promote parental involvement and family literacy; (ii) parent leadership development activities; and (iii) parenting education activities; (4) mental and physical health: (i) mentoring and other youth development programs, including peer mentoring and conflict mediation; (ii) juvenile crime prevention and rehabilitation programs; (iii) home visitation services by teachers and other professionals; (iv) developmentally appropriate physical education; (v) nutrition services; (vi) primary health and dental care; and (vii) mental health counseling services; (5) community involvement: (i) service and service-learning opportunities; (ii) adult education, including instruction in English as a second language; and (iii) homeless prevention services; (6) positive discipline practices; and (7) other programming designed to meet school and community needs identified in the baseline analysis and reflected in the full-service community school plan. (h) The school leadership team at each school site must develop a full-service community school plan detailing the steps the school leadership team will take, including: (1) timely establishment and consistent operation of the school leadership team; (2) maintenance of attendance records in all programming components; (3) maintenance of measurable data showing annual participation and the impact of programming on the participating children and adults; (4) documentation of meaningful and sustained collaboration between the school and community stakeholders, including local governmental units, civic engagement organizations, businesses, and social service providers; (5) establishment and maintenance of partnerships with institutions, such as universities, hospitals, museums, or not-for-profit community organizations to further the development and implementation of community school programming; (6) ensuring compliance with the district nondiscrimination policy; and (7) plan for school leadership team development. Subd. 3. Full-service community school review. (a) Every three years, a full-service community school site must submit to the commissioner, and make available at the school site and online, a report describing efforts to integrate community school programming at each covered school site and the effect of the transition to a full-service community school on participating children and adults. This report shall include, but is not limited to, the following: (1) an assessment of the effectiveness of the school site in development or implementing the community school plan; (2) problems encountered in the design and execution of the community school plan, including identification of any federal, state, or local statute or regulation impeding program implementation; (3) the operation of the school leadership team and its contribution to successful execution of the community school plan; (4) recommendations for improving delivery of community school programming to students and families; (5) the number and percentage of students receiving community school programming who had not previously been served; (6) the number and percentage of nonstudent community members receiving community school programming who had not previously been served; (7) improvement in retention among students who receive community school programming; (8) improvement in academic achievement among students who receive community school programming; (9) changes in student's readiness to enter school, active involvement in learning and in their community, physical, social and emotional health, and student's relationship with the school and community environment; (10) an accounting of anticipated local budget savings, if any, resulting from the implementation of the program; (11) improvements to the frequency or depth of families' involvement with their children's education; (12) assessment of community stakeholder satisfaction; (13) assessment of institutional partner satisfaction; (14) the ability, or anticipated ability, of the school site and partners to continue to provide services in the absence of future funding under this section; (15) increases in access to services for students and their families; and (16) the degree of increased collaboration among participating agencies and private partners. (b) Reports submitted under this section shall be evaluated by the commissioner with respect to the following criteria: (1) the effectiveness of the school or the community school consortium in implementing the full-service community school plan, including the degree to which the school site navigated difficulties encountered in the design and operation of the full-service community school plan, including identification of any federal, state, or local statute or regulation impeding program implementation; (2) the extent to which the project has produced lessons about ways to improve delivery of community school programming to students; (3) the degree to which there has been an increase in the number or percentage of students and nonstudents receiving community school programming; (4) the degree to which there has been an improvement in retention of students and improvement in academic achievement among students receiving community school programming; (5) local budget savings, if any, resulting from the implementation of the program; (6) the degree of community stakeholder and institutional partner engagement; (7) the ability, or anticipated ability, of the school site and partners to continue to provide services in the absence of future funding under this section; (8) increases in access to services for students and their families; and (9) the degree of increased collaboration among participating agencies and private partners. History:  1Sp2015 c 3 art 2 s 44; 2016 c 189 art 25 s 34