Vaping prevention curriculum is part of education policy law

A slimmed-down education policy law includes measures that will support special education students by offering access to alternative delivery of specialized instruction services and will require teachers to have mental health and suicide prevention training before they’re relicensed, beginning July 1, 2021.

The new law, sponsored by Rep. Cheryl Youakim (DFL-Hopkins) and Sen. Carla Nelson (R-Rochester), also obliges Minnesota schools to require evidence-based vaping prevention curriculum at least once to students in grades six through eight, beginning with the 2021-22 school year. School districts are also encouraged to provide similar curriculum to high school students.

Provisions in the law are effective June 24, 2020, unless otherwise noted.

Other measures related to general education (Article 1) included in the law will:

• clarify that school district contracts for fuel or transportation are not subject to the two-year term limit for most school district contracts for services or goods;

• limit the length of contracts for fuel or transportation to 10 years; and

• set a limit for the earliest that a school district can deliver a notice for an upcoming operating referendum to 45 days, up from 30, prior to the date of the election. Effective July 1, 2020, this applies to referendum notices mailed on or after that date.

Measures related to education excellence (Article 2) included in the law will:

• modify school district requirements for reporting related to their efforts to screen and identify students who demonstrate characteristics of having dyslexia. This is effective beginning with the 2020-21 school year.

Measures related to health and safety (Article 3) included in the law will:

• require the parent of a student to whom school personnel administer drugs or medicine at a parent’s request to inform the school if the drug or medicine is a controlled substance;

• require school districts to adopt a procedure to collect and transport unclaimed or abandoned prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications left with school personnel;

• allow a school district to designate an individual to transport unclaimed drugs that are not controlled substances to a designated drop-off box or collection site, or to request that a law enforcement agency transport the drugs to a drop-off box or collection site on behalf of the district; and

• prohibit a school district or school personnel from transporting unclaimed drugs that are controlled substances to a drop-off box or collection site.

Measures related to special education (Article 4) included in the law will:

• beginning with assessments conducted on or after July 1, 2020, a school district can conduct a functional behavior assessment as a standalone evaluation without conducting a comprehensive evaluation of the student; and

• allow a student who receives special education services to participate in Alternative Delivery of Specialized Instruction Services. This is also effective July 1, 2020.

Measures related to early childhood education (Article 5) included in the law will:

• align the state with federal guidance that a school district may not require a birth certificate to enroll a student in a public school;

• limit the circumstances under which a school can expel or suspend a child from a school-based pre-kindergarten program;

• extend from July 1, 2020 to July 1, 2024 the deadline by which early childhood programs must have three- or four-star Parent Aware ratings to accept early learning scholarships;

• establish a developmentally appropriate screening timeline for recipients of early learning scholarships; and

• add tribal health and human service agencies to Interagency Early Intervention Committees.

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