SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Today, the Minnesota House approved compromise ‘snow day relief’ legislation as a result of a Senate and House conference committee. Highlights of the new bill include greater flexibility for school districts concerning the number of ‘relief’ days, while still requiring school districts to provide hourly employees with opportunities to make up hours from those days, be it from back-pay or alternative hours.
“Schools made the responsible decision to close during multiple extreme weather days this winter, and now we have bipartisan, bicameral legislation that ensures families and districts can have scheduling clarity moving forward,” said Rep. Christensen. “It was incredibly important to make sure school staff weren’t penalized for those lost days, and I’m grateful the provisions helping non-salaried staff were kept. This is a great bill for Minnesota families and districts, and I look forward to Governor Walz signing this into law.
“The bipartisan result of the conference committee protects schools and school employees from penalization, simply for keeping our kids safe during the cold, snowy, and inclement weather,” Rep. Cheryl Youakim (DFL-Hopkins), Chair of the Education Policy Committee commented. “I am glad to see this important measure one step closer to law.”
The bill is headed to Governor Walz’s desk for his anticipated prompt signature.