Bill would let Minnesota school leaders escape funding cuts, jail time for not making up snow days

ST. PAUL — Minnesota’s school leaders can avoid funding cuts and even jail time if a bill at the Legislature allowing snow days to be counted as school days becomes law.

The change would only be for this school year, when frigid temps and record February snowfall forced schools to close for safety reasons. Many districts have taken a week or more off because of winter weather and typically only build a few extra days into their schedule to account for arctic temperatures and snow.

State law requires students attend school for a set number of instructional hours each year. If a district fails to meet the threshold, funding can be cut and school staff could potentially face jail time.

A state Department of Education spokesman said he was not aware of any time when a district lost funding or educators were jailed for not meeting the instruction time standard because of inclement weather.

Read more: https://www.inforum.com/news/government-and-politics/979879-Bill-would-let-Minnesota-school-leaders-escape-funding-cuts-jail-time-for-not-making-up-snow-days