SF3986
2025-2026 school year continued enrollment authorization provision
Legislative Session 94 (2025-2026)
Related bill: HF3890
AI Generated Summary
Purpose
Clarify and expand how schools count students for state funding during disruptions, and provide a temporary rule for the 2025-2026 school year to maintain enrollment counts despite attendance interruptions.
Main Provisions
- Allows counting students in average daily membership (ADM) even if they miss school for more than 15 consecutive days in the regular year, or five consecutive days in summer/intersession programs, when the absence is due to justifiable causes such as epidemic, calamity, weather, fuel shortage, or other similar disruptions.
- The commissioner must approve, on application, continued ADM counting for districts or charter schools under these circumstances.
- A lawful employees strike cannot be used as a justifiable cause to delay attendance or affect ADM counts.
- For the 2025-2026 school year only, the commissioner must allow districts or charter schools to count in ADM all students who were enrolled in the school before November 1, 2025 and have not reenrolled in another Minnesota school.
Effects on Existing Law
- Introduces a new mechanism to consider “justifiable causes” for counting pupils in ADM beyond normal attendance, potentially increasing ADM during disruption periods.
- Clearly excludes strikes from qualifying as justifiable causes.
- Creates a temporary, one-year provision to preserve ADM for students who were enrolled before a cutoff date and did not transfer to another Minnesota school.
Transitional/Effective Provisions
- Applies specifically to the 2025-2026 school year, with a requirement that the commissioner implement the counting allowance for eligible pupils upon request.
How to Interpret for Schools and Families
- If a school district or charter school experiences a prolonged disruption due to defined causes, it can apply to the commissioner to keep affected students counted in ADM.
- The rule recognizes that some disruptions are outside students’ and schools’ control and adjusts funding calculations accordingly.
- The temporary 2025-2026 provision provides a broader continuity measure for students who stayed enrolled but could not attend.
Relevant Terms
- average daily membership (ADM)
- justifiable cause
- epidemic
- calamity
- weather
- fuel shortage
- extended student absence
- commissioner
- school district
- charter school
- reenrolled
- Minnesota school
- 2025-2026 school year
Relevant Terms (plain list) average daily membership, justifiable cause, epidemic, calamity, weather, fuel shortage, extended student absence, commissioner, school district, charter school, reenrolled, 2025-2026 school year.
Bill text versions
- Introduction PDF PDF file
Actions
| Date | Chamber | Where | Type | Name | Committee Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 26, 2026 | Senate | Action | Introduction and first reading | ||
| February 26, 2026 | Senate | Action | Referred to | Education Finance |
Citations
[
{
"analysis": {
"added": [
"For the 2025-2026 school year, the commissioner must allow a school district or charter school to count all pupils in average daily membership who were enrolled in the school prior to November 1, 2025 and have not reenrolled in another Minnesota school.",
"Upon application, the commissioner may allow districts to continue counting pupils in average daily membership when attendance is prevented for more than 15 consecutive days (regular year) or more than five consecutive days (summer/intersession) due to epidemic calamity, weather, fuel shortage, or other justifiable causes."
],
"removed": [
"Strikes by lawful employees as a justifiable cause for counting pupils in average daily membership are removed."
],
"summary": "This bill amends Minnesota Statutes 2024 section 126C.05, subdivision 11, to exclude lawful employee strikes as a justifiable cause for counting pupils in average daily membership, authorize counting for certain justifiable causes when attendance is disrupted, and require counting all pupils enrolled before November 1, 2025 who have not reenrolled elsewhere for the 2025-2026 school year.",
"modified": [
"The subdivision heading for Subd.11 is amended to read: 'Average daily membership justifiable cause strikes excluded.'"
]
},
"citation": "126C.05",
"subdivision": "11"
}
]Progress through the legislative process
In Committee