Luverne says thanks – but no thanks – to state's 'Snow Day Relief Bill'

Gov. Tim Walz signed legislation that allows school districts to count snow days as instructional time without loss of state funding.
However many districts, including Luverne, are opting not to use the pass, since they will still be required to pay staff for the contracted school days.
In Luverne’s case, staff compensation for the waived school days would be $10,000 per day.
“In essence what they are saying is that you can take the days off for students but you have to pay folks (hourly employees) for not being there,” said Luverne Superintendent Craig Oftedahl at Thursday night’s board meeting.
The Snow Day Relief Act applies only to the 2018-19 school year.
Schools that canceled one or more days of classes “due to health and safety concerns” can count those missed days toward the mandated 165 days of instruction.
From Jan. 7 to March 18, weather-related school cancelations, early outs and late starts were weekly occurrences, and Luverne so far has missed five days.
At their March 28 meeting, Luverne School Board members reaffirmed their commitment to making up the days rather than applying for a state waiver.
The last day of classes for Luverne’s K-11 students is now May 17.
Graduation is still Sunday, May 12.
The board originally approved extending the school calendar to May 15, but flooding on March 14 and 15 closed schools for an additional two days.
Licensed staff will work their full contracted days. Their last day is May 21.
Luverne originally planned for classes to end May 10, a schedule approved by state officials for Luverne to begin its summer construction plans early.
The 2019-20 school year starts later than usual, Sept. 16, allowing a four-month summer construction window.
Due to the weather-related postponements, students in grades K-11 will continue to attend classes from May 13-17.
State legislation was being introduced in late February, as local districts were already adjusting schedules to make up the missed days.
Luverne board members still supported making up the days versus applying for a waiver.
“As we discussed, we would add on the extra snow days because that’s only fair for student learning,” said board member Colleen Deutsch.
Any districts that seek a waiver would be required to adopt an e-learning plan, where students use the internet to “attend” school from home on snow days.
Luverne is currently researching how the web-based learning could be used in the district.
“We have a lot of questions about e-learning — in what it looks like and how that fits with special education,” Oftedahl said.
Luverne is not alone in its decision to decline the state’s offer.
“We believe we need to meet with students as much as we can,” said Ellsworth Public Schools Superintendent John Willey.
Ellsworth, like many area schools, typically adopts 174-day school calendars in anticipation of possible missed days.
Ellsworth missed 10 days of classes, most recently due to a frozen water main.
The Ellsworth board voted to make up six of the 10 snow days, with one on Feb. 18 already completed.
Other dates include April 22, May 28, 29, 30 and 31.
Ellsworth graduation is still May 31.
The other four days won’t be made up, bringing this year’s school calendar down to 169 days, still above the state-mandated 165 days.
Hills-Beaver Creek and Adrian public schools previously decided to make up missed days.
Upcoming H-BC and Adrian board decisions may change the current schedule if they decide to apply for a snow day waiver.
H-BC students made up one snow day on March 25 and have approved conducting classes on April 17, 18, 26, May 30 and 31.
H-BC graduation is still planned for May 24.
Adrian students began attending classes an extra 30 minutes per day on March 4, a schedule expected to continue through April 26.
Adrian made up one snow day March 15 with an additional full day of classes now scheduled for April 22.
Adrian graduation is still May 24, the last day of school.