Members of the House Education Committee passed a bill allowing a reduced minimum fall enrollment for Big Stone School District. The school is k-8, and most of the students attend class in Minnesota when they reach high school. School districts are supposed to have at least 100 students enrolled, but House Bill 1097 recalculates the minimum enrollment number for Big Stone, based on its reduced number of grades.
Secretary of Education Melody Schopp spoke in favor of the measure.
“You know we stand in support of this because we really think, and I really believe that school districts should be able to make the determinations whether they can remain viable,” Schopp says. “And if they feel that they can remain viable under the 100 minimum, and in this case with this exemption, where students are coming back and forth, it’s a very unique situation.”
Committee members also passed House Bill 1117, approving postsecondary courses for nonpublic school students, putting into statute what is already done in practice.