Edina City Council — Transcript
Wednesday, June 7, 2023
Story
Edina Schools briefed on major state education law changes
Student Testing as Mandatory Bargaining Subject
Unemployment Insurance Eligibility for Non-Instructional School Employees
Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (Minnesota)
Special Education Cross-Subsidy Funding
General Fund Stabilization and Inflation-Tied Funding
Literacy Training and READ Act Implementation
Student Advocacy and Mentorship in Education Policy
Votes (8)
Policy Changes from Recent Minnesota Legislative Session - Staffing Ratios and Bargaining
Director Shaw explained that staffing ratios were reclassified from inherent managerial rights to mandatory subjects of bargaining under PERA. For school employees, this includes adult-to-student ratios and student-to-personnel ratios. Edina School District previously approved class size minimums and maximums independently; these decisions will now require collective bargaining. A board member asked who decides class sizes going forward; the response clarified that the school board approves the final collective bargaining agreement after negotiations between district administration and employee unions, with the board providing financial parameters throughout the process.
Student Testing as Mandatory Bargaining Subject
A board member asked what it means for student testing to become a bargaining subject, specifically whether unions could eliminate mandated assessments like MAPS or FastBridge. The response clarified that state-mandated assessments (READ Act literacy screening and Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments) remain non-negotiable. However, discretionary assessments such as Panorama (social-emotional well-being) and cognitive abilities testing (CoGAT) are now negotiable. The district will continue working with union leadership on these discretionary assessments while maintaining compliance with state literacy requirements.
Unemployment Insurance Eligibility for Non-Instructional School Employees
Effective May 28, 2023, non-instructional school employees became eligible for unemployment insurance during school breaks. Non-instructional employees include paraprofessionals, bus drivers, nine- and ten-month clerical staff, health services associates, and food service workers. Unemployment benefits are based on average weekly wages from the previous calendar year, with most employees receiving approximately 50% of weekly wages (maximum $857/week) for up to 12 weeks, applicable to summer, winter, and spring breaks. The state appropriated $135 million to reimburse districts through fiscal year 2027. The Edina School District's estimated maximum exposure is $1.2–$1.4 million annually. The district must pay benefits first and then submit for reimbursement, creating a cash flow consideration.
Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (Minnesota) - Implementation and Financial Impact
Minnesota's Paid Family and Medical Leave Act takes effect January 1, 2026. The program mirrors unemployment insurance structure, providing wage replacement for employees absent due to childbirth, family care, or serious medical conditions. Employees become eligible after 90 days of employment. Maximum annual paid benefits are 20 weeks per qualifying event (minimum seven days absence). The state will establish a trust funded by employer and employee payroll deductions. Employer contribution is capped at 0.7% of taxable wages; for Edina School District, this represents approximately $830,000 annually. The program supplements the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which provides job protection and insurance continuation but no wage replacement.
Special Education Cross-Subsidy Funding Increase
The superintendent highlighted a significant legislative achievement: the state increased special education cross-subsidy reimbursement to 47.8%. This was characterized as a major win resulting from student advocacy efforts at the state capitol. The increased funding will help offset the costs of special education services.
General Fund Stabilization and Inflation-Tied Funding
Legislation tied general fund increases to inflation with a guaranteed minimum of 2% and maximum of 3% annually. The superintendent emphasized this as a major achievement, noting that prior years saw zero percent increases or required districts to return funds to the state. This stabilization allows districts to plan budgets with greater predictability, similar to private businesses.
Literacy Training, READ Act Compliance, and Reimbursement Fund Allocation
The district has been training primary and early childhood teachers in literacy methods since 2021 and is positioned to meet READ Act requirements by the 2027 deadline. The district plans to expand training to intermediate teachers by 2027 to cover grades K–8. FastBridge screening was implemented in ninth grade, and a comprehensive 9th–12th grade literacy plan is under board review. A board member asked whether reimbursement funds could be reinvested in literacy efforts or redirected to other needs. The response clarified that reimbursement funds return to the general fund (since they originated there) but the district remains committed to continuing literacy operations and expanding training.
Student Advocacy and Mentorship Program Development
Student representatives shared their experience advocating at the state capitol, noting the steep learning curve regarding education finance and policy complexity. They emphasized the importance of understanding these issues and communicating them in accessible terms to the broader community. The district plans to develop a mentorship program for the coming school year to grow student voice and leadership in advocacy, with the goal of educating the school community on education policy. Students also conducted outreach to other education advocacy groups and representatives beyond the district.
Notable Quotes (11)
Staffing ratios were added as a term and condition of employment prior to this the number of personnel that an employer a public employer employees it was actually considered an inherent managerial rights and that has been changed under this new policy to whereas stacking ring shows it's no longer an inherent manager though right meaning that it's now the subject of a mandatory subject of Harmony.
Ultimately the school board approves the collective bargaining agreement that's brought before them so the way it works is with all different employees within the school district is directly ordered and I sit down and and go through negotiations with the employee group with their with their designated team um following once we reach what's called a tentative agreement between the two teams then the employee group takes a vote and if they that vote passes it's called the ramification and then at that point the that proposed agreement goes to our school board for final approval.
With the READ act we legislation says that we are required to use in our particular place we use fast for a child um so when it comes to our comprehensive literacy screening that that will need to continue we know that the Minnesota comprehensive assessments are required by state law so that will still have to continue we use other assessments right so um we capture data via Panorama for um social emotional well-being we capture an information we capture or we'll begin capturing um information starting with some schools and some grade levels for the cognitive abilities test the co-get um really looking at talent development and natural abilities um and so those pieces are negotiable.
Prior to May 28th um 2023 when this new law went into effect School term employees in the state of Minnesota so meet the people that work nine or ten months per year have not been eligible for unemployment insurance during the summer months and that that was changed during this last legislative session specifically for non-instructional employees.
The way unemployment Works in terms of the compensation to the individual seeking that assistance it's based on their average weekly wages um for the previous calendar year um for a maximum of 12 weeks most employees will receive about 50 of their weekly wage to a maximum of 857 per week again for the 12 weeks and that would also apply to winter break and spring break I believe and not just the summer terms the district's maximum exposure per the eligible employee groups would probably be around 1.2 to 1.4 million dollars.
This one is set to go Bismillah um is set to go into effect on January 1 2026 so we still have a little time to figure out all the details but it really the idea is that they've been talking about this in the state for a number of years now is to set up a system that's similar to unemployment insurance for people to apply for wage benefits When um it's necessary for them to miss you know uh be absent from work for having having a baby taking care of a family member for their own serious medical condition those are the the largest largest ones follows along very closely with the FMLA Family and Medical Leave Act which is a federal act however this of course provides wages as well family and they have MLA the federal Family Medical Leave Act provides for job protection and it provides for um your employer must continue your insurance just like you were working but is actually unpaid leave it doesn't provide any wage replacement during that time and so the Paid Family Medical Leave Act the Minnesota law actually will also provides wage replacement in a very similar manner to unemployment insurance.
In terms of the financial impact the way this works is the state's going to set up a trust and the trust will be funded by employer and employee payroll deductions and so the maximum contribution from the employer will be point seven percent of all taxable wages that the employer pays out so for this school district that's going to be about eight hundred and thirty thousand dollars per year potentially that we would have to contribute to this trust.
First of all I just a superintendent I've never even say that I'm not excited that we now have 47.8 of the special education cross subsidy coming in that's a huge event I mean that is a tremendous win and that is something that our students were down there advocating for and it made such a difference.
We are really excited for the um the tied to general fund to inflation because what that guarantees us is that we know we will get nothing less than two percent there were years I've been in education for a really long time there were years when we got zero percent they were years where we actually in education gave back to the state to help them fund other things um and and we will receive no more than three percent the great thing is we can start to plan out and budget in a way that other businesses are able to do that because we just never knew where we were going to be at that stabilization is the key to all of it.
Those funds would go come back they'd go into the general fund we actually have a plan like I said we are so fortunate to just be in a really good position like this so we what redex says is that by next year we need to have our primary teachers as well as interventionists um trained we have been in the position where we've been doing that training now and actually our early childhood teachers as well we've been working on that training now since 2021 so we're really in a good position we don't know how much we're going to get reimbursed but we do know that we are actually moving to begin letters is is primary Aspire is for intermediate moving into secondary up to 8th grade and so we're actually going to be moving into that training with some of our intermediate teachers um by 2027.
I think that that's our hope a lot for this coming school year that's not a big effort we that is one of our big hopes for this coming school year as we're seeing the importance of student voice on this committee and the importance of making sure that we are continuing to grow this group and use our students as the ones to influence the school body right and to help shape what this looks like looks like I'm sure there's such a learning curve too for for those students so learn all the aspects of what I had no idea about like the status of Education policy within Minnesota and like being on the community it's definitely opened my eyes to show that like education education finance and especially policy is extremely complicated and I think it's like it should be a necessity that everybody knows and having like the new members and we Mentor them but that's even more educate more educated public and we can like talk about these issues more like explaining it in like more lead terms and it would just make more sense.
Ordinances & Resolutions (5)
Minnesota state law governing public employee organizing and mandatory subjects of bargaining; recently amended to include staffing ratios and student testing.
Minnesota state statute requiring comprehensive literacy screening (FastBridge) and literacy training for primary and early childhood teachers through 8th grade.
State-mandated student assessments that remain non-negotiable and must continue regardless of bargaining outcomes.
Federal law providing job protection and insurance continuation during leave; Minnesota's Paid Family and Medical Leave Act supplements this with wage replacement.
Minnesota state law effective January 1, 2026, establishing a trust-funded system providing wage replacement for employees on qualifying family, medical, or parental leave.