March 24, 2026 · Education Finance · 12,252 words · 16 speakers · 181 segments
On Tuesday, March 24, a quorum is present. The Minnesota Senate Education Finance Committee will now come to order. We have a few good bills to hear today. And so let's begin with Senator Bolden. And Senator Clark, would you please move Senate file 3982 before the comm movee?
So moved.
Great. Thank you, Senator. And then Senator Boulder Bolden, you have an A1amendment?
Yes, madam Chair.
Okay. Senator Clark, would you move the A1amendment, please?
So moved.
Perfect. Now would you like to introduce your amendment? And we'll wait for questions afterwards. Go ahead.
Thank you, Madam Chair and committee members. I will just say that the amendment that you just adopted. Thank you for that. Just adds an appropriation to what was previously blank. So this bill provides an appropriation to Rochester Public school schools to replace grant funds that had been allocated by the federal Department of Education. But last fall, last September, those funds were pulled back from the federal government. And so this would be the state stepping in to fill that gap for funds that were needed and necessary. These are dollars that allow would allow Rochester to continue to support the school based Mental Health Scholars, which is an excellent program that helped for RPS Rochester Public School staff to earn social work degrees from Winona State University and potentially become then hired as mental health support positions at rps. We know that we have significant mental health needs in our schools. And this was an excellent program that was one piece of the puzzle to help to meet some of those mental health needs. It allowed Rochester Public School staff to get an education and then come back to be able to provide that mental health for our students. And so I will say there are some individuals who were part of this program who because of the abrupt pulling of those funds, are now in a position to where they thought, you know, tuition was covered and now it's not. And so they're in a position to, you know, having to decide are they, you know, able to figure something out to be able to continue that education or are they going to have to, you know, stop. And so, you know, for, for those individuals, but others who would be able to take advantage of this program and then, like I said, fill those needs that we have in our schools. It is a shame that the federal government decided abruptly to, to remove that funding to, for such a necessary and needed program. But it feels like the right thing for the state to then step in and, and try to fill that gap.
All right, members, before we take questions, let's go ahead and adopt the A1amendment. All in favor of the A1amendment? Please say aye. Aye. Any nays? All right. The amendment is adopted. All right. And let's go to our testifier, Coney Grimsrud. If you would like to join us, please state your name for the record and you may begin.
Thank you. My name is Connie Grimsrud. I am the Director of Student well Being from Rochester Public Schools. Good morning, Madam Chair and members of the committee, and thank you for the invitation to testify this morning. I am thankful to be able to have the opportunity to speak in support of the bill to address the loss of federal funding for our school based Mental Health Scholars Program here in Ryder in January of 2023. As Senator Bolden said, Rochester Public Schools was awarded nearly $1.9 million over five years through the U.S. department of Education to strengthen the pipeline of school based mental health professionals here in our community. This was a workforce development grant focused on the recruitment and retention, supporting both current staff members and members of the of the Rochester community in earning advanced degrees in social work so that they could provide those necessary mental health services that Senator Bolden just described for you. By investing in the people already connected to our schools and our community, we were building a sustainable local workforce to serve students and families. We saw meaningful results within two years of beginning our School based Mental Health scholars program. In May 2025, we graduated the first first cohort of six scholars and served several hundred additional students within six months time. We are on track now to graduate five more in May of 2026. Even though the loss of funding did impact all of those scholars, these licensed social workers are now serving in expanded mental health roles, some within our schools already and others contributing to the broader Rochester community. Strengthening access to care across both our community and Minnesota. We saw the impact when the funding was lost immediately. However, in that April 2025, we were notified that that grant was terminated early as part of the broader national rollback of school mental health grants tied to federal policy shifts. Although Rochester Public Schools did appeal that decision, it was ultimately upheld and we were required to close that program in December of 2025. It cut off the final two years which contained the largest portion of that funding and as a result, we faced an immediate loss of financial support for our current cohort of scholars and were unable to continue supporting any additional participants in the program, though we had many who are interested and ready to enroll in that education. This bill provides a critical opportunity to stabilize and continue this work, allowing us to complete the preparation of our current scholars and those who were interested and vetted prior to losing the grant. And sustain a model that is already addressing workforce shortages. This is a strategic investment in recruitment, retention, and long term mental health capacity for both our schools and our community. I respectfully urge your support and thank you for your time and consideration.
Thank you, Ms. Grimsrud. Members, any questions? Senator Swatzinski.
Thank you, Senator Bolden, for bringing this forward. I just flabbergasted at a statistic that Rochester Public Schools put out that 32% of their 11th graders had seriously considered suicide and 11% had attempted it. I don't even know what to say other than thank you for any attempt at reversing those numbers, because it's pretty horrif that so many of our young people have lost hope about this great nation and our great future. And I don't know what to say other than thank you for bringing this forward.
Thank you, Senator Swatzinski. Yes, we're always really horrified to hear the state of it and then the lack of resources that we can provide. Senator Holmstrom.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Senator Port, do you know how many students are served by this grant?
Senator?
Oh, I'm so sorry, Bolden.
Senator Bolden.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for the question. I'll start and then I will differ and perhaps our testifier can give more details. I can't give an exact number, but as the AS was shared, as the program has been a proven program over time that has brought in the several cohorts of staff who are serving across the Rochester Public Schools, you know, spectrum of students, and. And has brought in a increased number of staff. I think it was shared with just one of the cohorts. An extra two to three hundred students were able to be served. And so I. I don't know, Madam Chair, if our testifier specific to Rochester Public Schools would have a more specific number to that.
Ms. Grimstrud, would you have an answer for that question?
I do.
Within the first six months, we were able to serve nearly 300 students. But it's very important to know that a workforce grant like this requires super high levels of supervision while those scholars are working within our schools. So we were able to add potentially large additional students who could receive some interventions because they were doubling the workforce while they were under direct supervision of a social worker in the school at the same time. So that was within the first six months, and then the next year would have doubled, nearly tripled the number of students that were able to be served in the following year.
Thank you, Madam. Senator Holstrom, do you have a follow up?
Several.
Thank you.
Anything to Respond, Madam Chair, I just, the only thing I would add is that, you know, as this is a workforce grant, you know, getting more folks into this field, into these roles to be able to support our kids and their mental health, you know, it's a certain number of students every semester, every year, but over the course of the career of these individuals going into these professions, you know, it would be hard to put a number on the, on the number of students that they are going to interact with over the course of their career. You know, having this degree, being in this role, certainly.
Oh, you had another question?
I'm sorry, no.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Senator Bolden So do you know how much the school district had already collected of the original 1.9 million dollar federal grant?
Senator BOLDEN thank you, Madam Chair. I believe it was about half. It was about between 900,000 and a million of the, of the 1.9, which is why we have the then amendment for $1 million.
Senator thank you, Madam Chair. Senator Bolden, your testifier had mentioned that under the federal program there was a very high level of supervision and I imagine a lot of other program requirements. Does this allow us to monitor the same way that the federal program would have been monitoring them, or is this just a million dollars without any strings attached?
Senator Bolden thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for the question. This would be filling in the funds. The same program will be utilized, the same oversights will be utilized. It is simply supplying the funding that has been removed at this point.
Senator Halston.
Thank you, Madam Chair. When you say the same oversights, who's conducting that oversight?
Senator Bolden thank you, Madam Chair. I perhaps would defer to our testifier to speak to the specifics of the program, but again, would defer to, or would just reiterate that this has been a proven program over time. This is not a new program that has just popped up, has been proven over time, has been found to be beneficial in bringing folks in to do this critical work. And so I would perhaps defer to our testifier to speak to the specifics of what that looks like.
Thank you. Ms. Grimsrud, would you have an answer for that?
I believe well, under the federal grant, the stipulations were that we completed one interim progress report that was due in the fall and then an annual report that was due prior to the end of the first quarter of the following year.
And Ms. Grimsrud, if we were able to allocate these dollars, would that same process be expected? And where would you be submitting that information to
My understanding is that the stipulations were just the same. Who that would be submitted to, I don't know that I have. I have the answer to that question.
Thank you. Follow up again.
Thank you, Madam Chair. So is the intent that they would send those progress reports to this committee then, or are we just totally removing the accountability aspect of the original grant?
Senator Bolden.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm happy to work for language if you have suggestions or if others have suggestions. The intent is not at all to remove any oversight. The intent is to keep the program exactly as it has been, but to just replace the funding that has been removed. And so, happy to work on language on what would be most beneficial or useful for where that report should go.
Sure. I'm actually going to ask Mr. Arneson to explain what he was saying.
Madam Chair, members, the bill before you was structured as a grant from MDE to the. To the district and under. In general, grants from the agency to a recipient are governed by a grant agreement executed by the granting authority and the recipient. Paragraph C provides that up to 2% of the appropriation, or in this case, $20,000 of the appropriation, would be available for the agency to use for. For their grant administration processes, which would include development of a grant agreement and whatever oversight activities would be required under that agreement.
Thank you. Does that answer your question, Senator?
It does.
Great.
One more.
One final question.
Okay.
So I understand that this program is doing good things, and I applaud them for their efforts. But this was a cancellation of a federal program, and Minnesota doesn't have a lot of extra money. In fact, we have severe shortfalls across the state in education. So I'm going to have to go back to my district and justify why Rochester Public Schools deserved an extra million dollars to solve their problems. But the roof that's leaking at Howard Lake Waverly isn't a priority for this body. And I think that every senator here is going to have that same problem when we do these one time appropriations to cover a whole. I think that people are going to be asking, well, what's special about them? Why did they get it? How can we justify this to the rest of our districts that Rochester is somehow worthy of the million dollars when Howard Lake Waverly, Annandale, Buffalo, Monticello, might not be.
Senator Bolden.
Thank you, Madam Chair. What I would say to that is, you know, this is one example of the terrible position the federal government is putting us in to have to make these decisions. And every district is worthy and deserving of having the resources that they need. And I'm here representing my district and making the case. And, you know, you all are going to make decisions about where dollars are, are allocated and where those go. Again, I would just emphasize, you know, this is the terrible position the federal government has put us in, as this was a, this, this is a very needed program. We talked about the statistics and I'm sure you've had many conversations about mental health needs across the state. This was a program that was working well, meeting that need, filling that need. And we are now in the position of having that gap, having those funds removed. And so I'm here to make the case that this is a critical need for the mental health of our students. And it puts you all in a very difficult position to have to, you know, decide where our valuable resources will be allocated.
Thank you, Senator Bolden. Was that the last bit then? Okay, Senator Makeway.
Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you, Senator Bolden, for bringing this bill. I had the, I guess, distinct displeasure to serve on the Federal Impact Subcommittee. And we heard about what the federal government cancellations are doing to everything from higher ed to rural clinics to food, to health care to all of that. And I just, I really want to be clear and say this out loud. The federal government canceled a $1.9 million grant to support school based mental health programs. And Rochester Public schools that had 32% of 11th graders have suicidal ideation, with 11% actually attempting. And Rochester Public Schools reach out to say, we need help, we need more mental health professionals in our schools. And the federal government at one point said, yes, we will help you. And then in the middle of that help, while students are enrolled in school, they canceled that. They pulled the rug out, not just from those students who are getting educated to provide mental health support, but from the students who needed it and every student that comes after that. It's unconscionable, quite frankly, and especially as we sit here being told that we have $200 billion for a war that no one can explain why we're in, but we don't have $1.9 million to keep the mental health of students in Minnesota, okay, to make sure that they don't have suicidal ideation or die by suicide. It is unconscionable. And it does put this legislature at an increasingly difficult place where we are trying to backfill obligations and commitments that we've had from this federal government. And we've never had to consider that before under any administration, ever. And so thank you for advocating for your district because what happened to your district was truly horrific and there's no reason for it. And so thank you for just being a great advocate. And we should all be very aware that this kind of stuff is happening in all of our districts, whether it's our schools or our local police departments or roads and bridges and hospitals. It is horrifying. And we don't even, I don't think we fully understand the full scope. And you're just peeling back the onion a little bit here today. So thank you for bringing your bill.
Thank you, Senator Maquaid, Senator Cero.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Senator Bolden, for this bill which is sparking a larger conversation based on what you said and based on what Senator Makeway just said on, in terms of federal dollars coming to the state, the state allocating those dollars to different parts of state budget, whether it be schools, whether it be roads and bridges, transportation, whether it be human services related aspects across the board. But here's the reality, Madam Chair members, is that the federal government itself is spending trillions of dollars in deficit. The system is broken. So we can't sit here at the state level and say we have an expectation of the federal government to continue to fund these things when themselves are using money that is borrowed or is being printed. And we have to take a holistic reality approach that the system of government spending on these different programs from the federal to the state is not working. And so I just quickly googled the deficit for the last 10 years. And so back to 2015, it was forwarded at the federal level. Now 442 billion. And then it goes to 585 billion, 665 billion. In 2020, it jumps to 313 trillion. 2021, it's just shy of 3 trillion. 2022, it's about 1 1/2 trillion. In 23, it's 1.7 trillion. In 24, it's 1.83 trillion every year. That is how much money they're spending above what they're bringing in in tax revenue. And so the system is broken. And so the federal government canceling previously awarded dollars is part of the effort at the federal level to revamp a broken system. So putting blame on the federal government for creating holes in our budget, it lacks the totality of the picture. And the reality is the system's broken. We have to have a fundamental change because it's not a sustainable path to spend trillions of dollars year after year after year sending them to the states. And I appreciate that we have a president right now and a majority in Congress that is taking a hard look at and making the hard decisions of trying to change the trajectory of this country. So I don't know how many trillions are, I didn't look it up. Are we 50 trillion in debt? So if the deficit each year is 1 to 2 trillion, which is piling on this mounting Overall debt of 50, 60, 70 trillion now, it's going to be painful every year we continue to ignore reality. And so the sooner we can get our spending in alignment at the federal level, which is certainly going to be require a change at the state level, the better we're going to be off in the long term trajectory of this country and this state. And so, yes, hard decisions need to be made, but nevertheless, they do need to be made. So thank you, Madam Chair, and again, thank you, Senator Bolden for this. Thank you.
Thank you. You know, I just want to remind everyone that Minnesota is considered a donor state. We send more to the federal government than they send back to us. And we know that the federal government has never met their financial or their promissory obligations to support education in Minnesota. And so I don't know how,
you
know, how to justify the fact that they canceled this grant other than it had perhaps some language in it that didn't quite prescribe to this president and his regime. But let's remember the billions of dollars that are being spent to kill people outside of this country at the cost of the taxpayers. Senator Swadzinski?
Yeah. Thank you, Madam Chair. Maybe my colleague could, we could work together to get rid of Article 1, Section 8, Clause 2 or 3 that gives Congress the power to borrow money. Because I think I'm perplexed too. I can't remember if it's 30 trillion or $40 trillion in debt, but they have that power. The federal government has the power to borrow money under the Constitution. So if we want them to balance their budget every year, it's going to take a constitutional amendment by the states and the people. And so, but I don't, I hope we don't fall down a rabbit hole that every time we at the state, Senator Bolden comes forward and asks for money to help our kids who are suffering and considering ending all hope in life, that we go down that rabbit hole of blaming the federal government. The federal government is responsible for that shortfall. But noneth taken the path that let's balance the budget at the cost of our kids who are suffering. And so it's two different issues here, I think for sure. One is the national debt and the other issue is Senator Bolden wanting the Rochester schools to have the money available to save one life, perhaps. So anyways, just wanted to say that. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Senator Swadzinski, Senator Gustafson.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I noticed that Senator Lucero stopped at 2023. Just so you know, Trump added $2.25 trillion to the national debt in his first year of his second term. So let's not just cherry pick the statistics. Okay, good. We're going to get back and forth into a statistics fight. This would be amazing. But my point is, is that I heard what Senator Holmstrom said about roof like maintenance fees and I agree with you. There is actually like a bill that I think we have, I've either authored or co authored or at least for sure supported in the last few years. That really looks at long term facility. I always mess it up. Long term facility maintenance in schools and for schools like mine. I know, I think Senator Lucero's, maybe some of those in like kind of different suburbs, in the cities, we just don't get the same amount of funding. And we fight for that all the time. And I, so I'm with you, would be happy to work on that with you because it is true, like we're all trying to just one, some of us are just trying. My high school also needs a new roof. So I'm with you. Some of us are just trying to afford a roof over our heads and the schools to be in the shape that is safe and functional for our students. And then at the same time we're getting funding yanked from us. And it's like you're, we're all here in committee and we hear people come to the table and they're, you know, asking for a 1%, 2% increase on the formula. And we're talking about significant dollars that were taken away by the federal government, stuff that we can't backfill with our economy in Minnesota. And so, you know, kudos to Senator Bolden who came forward with a need in her district. All of us are here to fight for our districts. I think it's great that she's doing this. I would love to work on more long term facility maintenance fees. But I just, you know, I don't want us to always, like, point at the fact that we didn't lose when the federal government made the decisions that they did. We lost. A lot of states lost, a lot of schools lost, businesses lost, families lost because of the decisions being made. So I just. The full picture would be Nice. Thank you.
Thank you, Senator Gustafson. And I just want to remind everybody that last year we did expand the allowable uses for LFTM for roofs. So school districts do have that opportunity to use those dollars where they didn't. And so that was something we did last year. And hopefully your school district is taking advantage of that. Senator Makeway, please.
Thank you, Madam Chair. And I, you know, want to help paint that full picture because, again, I've had the displeasure of sitting on the committee that we've had people come before us. So the one big bill added roughly 4 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years. It cut taxes by, like, a trillion dollars for billionaires, and then it also cut Medicaid and SNAP and funding for our hospitals and liheap and higher education dollars, and then things like this for the rest of us to the tune of, like $2 trillion. That is what is happening right now. We are giving tax breaks to billionaires, blowing up our deficit to do it, and then cutting the programs that people need. I have said it before, but I actually didn't know it was possible to make a bill that bad. Either you cut costs, cut services, and then reduce your deficit, or you add programs and add things for people and you increase your deficit. Somehow that bill did both things. Reduce services for people, increase the deficit, increase costs. And so we're just. We're sitting here pretending like these are all, like, neutral decisions that were made by some random third party, when in fact they were made by people intending to enrich billionaires while cutting off the funding for mental health for high schoolers. And people see that, and they feel that, and it is infuriating and it shouldn't be happening. And so we're gonna have to make a lot of decisions here at this legislature about what can our precious dollars that we're already giving to the federal government, that they don't send us back anymore. What can we rearrange so that we can make sure kids stay alive or that people can get healthcare or they can eat and don't starve. But, I mean, it's just like. It's crazy.
I feel crazy.
I can't believe we're sitting here pretending like this is just, like, a thing that we wandered into instead of deliberate choices that have been made in the last year to make this situation, like, exponentially worse. And it doesn't have to be this way. It's a complete choice. I'm sorry to what happened for your district, Senator Bolden. I'm so grateful they have you as their senator to advocate for them.
Thank you, Senator. And then Senator Lucero, you wanted to respond.
Thank you, Madam Chair. And lest there be any conclusion that I was trying to be partisan, which I'm not, that was not my intent. I stopped at 2024. I'll even show Senator Swatzinski where it went to. I didn't stop there. So lest there be that conclusion, I am putting blame on Republicans and Democrats. President Trump, President Biden, Congress of both Republican majority and Democrat majority. That was not my intent to have a partisan remark. The reality is the federal government is broken in the money that they're spending. And I'm not trying to be partisan in that regard. It is not sustainable to spend trillions of dollars every single year for year over year over year, sending them to the states to create programs. It's not sustainable. And I'm very concerned about the future of our country, the future of the very children we're talking about in this committee, of what we're going to leave for them, because debt has to be paid back somehow and dealt with in some capacity. And we know from Scripture that the borrower is slave to the lender. And I don't want to enslave our children to some future anything. I want to promote freedom and maximize their opportunity, academic and otherwise. When it comes to just a quick remark on the killing, you know, this is the state level and education committee. You know, foreign policy is far outside our purview. But from the chair's remark, we're killing people. This country is killing people. We have Iran and other Islamic countries chanting death to America. America is the great Satan. They have purposed themselves to inflict harm on United States citizens. The reality of President Trump and the national government trying to ensure our national safety and security is of utmost importance when it comes to federal government and the money that's coming to the states. The reason that these programs are ending is because they are riddled with fraud. These programs are riddled with fraud. That's why President Trump has ended many of them. Because year over year, there's a lack of accountability, lack of transparency. And so trying to take decades of fraud and end these programs and bring accountability is going to have a downstream impact to states. And for us at the state level, who have built programs and try and is relying on these revenue streams that are coming from debt is poor policy decisions. So we need to face reality in what our spending priorities are going to be and allow school districts to have maximum flexibility to spend those dollars. We've had long conversations in this Committee, in the past on, we give the individual school districts from the state these different buckets of money, but we don't allow them or there's very minimal amounts of opportunity to take dollars that have an abundance of money from one bucket to use in another area that there's a critical need where the bucket has run dry from the money that's in that we prevent that from happening at the school district level. We don't allow the school districts to spend the money to deliver the services they need. If we allowed that, perhaps we wouldn't have to have a bill like this and then Rochester could find the million dollars in another bucket that they have extra money in to continue the program that they find to be valuable rather than continuing to blame the federal government for lack of money coming to us to give to Rochester that is again, sourcing from debt. So thank. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Senator Bolden, any final comments on your bill? I know you have to run over to HHS and we will pick up your other bill when you come back if that works out. Okay? Okay, sure.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, members, for the discussion. I just want to recenter us to sort of the need here. This, you know, is to allocate funds that were promised, allocated, you know, dedicated to Rochester Public Schools for a need that is real and significant for a program that has been proven over time to be, you know, vetted and successful to meet the mental health needs of our kids, which are significant and increasing. There, you know, is no evidence that the pulling of these funds was because of fraud or because they're trying to balance the budget on the $1 million from this program. And understanding you are in a very difficult position given everything that is happening. But this is a real and significant need and I appreciate you taking it under consideration.
Thank you, Senator Bolden. So with that, Senate File 3982, as amended, is laid over for possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill. And if you want to hop over and then come back and let us know when you're here. Senator Clark, would you like to present your bill? We have Senate file 4414. So, Senator Clark, today the intention is to lay Senate file 4414 over for possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill. Would you like to move your bill before the committee?
So moved.
Wonderful. All right, let's go right to your bill.
Thank you, Madam Chair and members. I bring You Senate File 4414, a bill relating to education finance, expanding the uses of operating capital revenue to include utility costs. So as I said, this bill will add utility costs to a long list of allowable expenses under operating capital revenue for our districts. Just for setting the stage here in the other body, Representative Brian Lawrence of Princeton is carrying this bill. So we've got a bipartisan bill. This is this bill's first stop. Operating capital revenue is an equalized aid levy revenue stream. Excuse me, for districts and charter schools to cover a range of capital expenses. It's part of the general education revenue, but is limited on what it may cover. It's limited to 27 items that we have added to this list over the years. And Senate File 4414 adds building utility costs as the 28th allowable expense. The bill does not have a state fiscal impact and would not increase property, local property tax levies. It simply gives more districts more flexibility, I should say all districts more flexibility to address their budget needs. Today I have Chris Campa with Cambridge Isanti Schools and Josh Downham with Minneapolis Schools here to provide testimony on the bill.
Madam Chair, thank you for your flexibility bill here. And so is Chris Campa here.
He's online.
Online. Mr. Campa, if you would like to state your name for the record and you may begin your testimony.
Perfect. Thank you. Chair Kunisch and members of the committee, I appreciate the opportunity to testify today in support of Senate file 4414. My name is Chris Campo. I am the director of finance and operations for Cambridge Sandy Schools. School budgets are tight. You know, we know this is not a new message and everyone in this room has heard it many, many times. But the financial pressures facing school districts today are real and ongoing and they're difficult to manage. This is a modest but practical step in the right direction. Currently operating capital funds, you know, can only be used on certain needs such as equipment, facilities and supplies. And that restriction means that utilities, which are an unavoidable but essential costs, must be paid from general education funds. And there was building off of some comments from earlier in this. In this committee, it provides just another bucket of allowable expenditures to use to use to pay some of these expenses and gives us school districts more resources and flexibility in managing those expenses. It also provides stability because utility costs are volatile and sometimes they're difficult to budget for. According to Xcel Energy, I believe that the increase in electricity prices over the last two years is 22%. And weather is also unpredictable. And it gives and it's that those spikes and volatilities are difficult on school budgets. So in closing, this bill doesn't solve the larger structural challenges that are facing school districts today in managing those finances. But it does acknowledge an important reality and that school districts need flexibility to manage those increasing responsibilities with the limited resources that we, that we have. So thank you for your time and consideration today.
Thank you, Director Campa, for that. And then Mr. Downham, if you'd like to introduce yourself. And you may begin.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Committee members Josh Down, Minneapolis Public Schools. And for the sake of time, I'm testifying on behalf of the Association, Metropolitan School Districts, the School Boards Association, School Administrators, rural school districts, St. Paul schools and Masbo. So got most of them in there, Madam Chair. Well, I'll be very brief. This bill is very straightforward.
Mr. Campa did a great job of
explaining the situation that his district is under in Minneapolis.
We have 65 schools with an average age of 69 years.
Our utility costs are significant and growing and oftentimes well in excess of inflation. So as Mr. Campa said, there's a
lot of volatility in those costs.
This gives us just one additional flexible tool to help meet those needs.
And you know, I would be remiss
if I didn't say my colleagues would
love to see an increase in this budget item, but in lieu of that,
having a little extra flexibility. Excuse me.
Would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Dunham. Any questions or comments, members? Senator Farnsworth?
Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Senator Clark, for bringing this bill. I'm just wondering. So we hear stories from school district about all these different pots of money. And I don't know the specific examples, but they say, you know, we have this pot of money that we can't use for this thing. And so we have, you know, a pretty healthy balance that we can't use for the thing it's intended for is this. I mean, to what extent do you know that schools maybe have a surplus in these capital, these operating capital revenue accounts that they could then use for something like their electric bill? I mean, is that information that you gathered? And then question two would be do we risk harming the long term viability of the schools? As the testifier said, the average age In Minneapolis is 69 years old. So they probably need a lot of funding to maintain those buildings. So I'm just wondering what the balance is. And that's sort of a lot of questions in one, but I know you can handle it.
Senator Clark, do you have a response?
Thank you, Chair Kunisch. Thank you, Senator Farnsworth, for the confidence in handling the multi pieces to parse it out there is a run available, and that was part of the research. I don't know. I got it late last night. So I'm sorry that I haven't shared with you, but I can ask. I think staff may be able to get it or provide a bit more detail.
I think Mr. Arneson can help us with this one.
Thank you, Chair.
Yeah, I guess I'll turn to Mr. Arneson. But Senator Farnsworth, as an overview, there's a wide variety. There are some folks that are basically right at and others that have a a surplus by student. And so I think this is part of the flexibility, and it's up to us to decide we're adding a little bit more flexibility and where to be more defined, and then I'll come to your next questions.
Thank you. And I think Mr. Arneson can help us a little bit with the fund balance information.
Madam Chair, members, if I understood Senator Farnsworth, Farnsworth's question about, you know, to what extent are districts maintaining a fund balance here in this in the reserved account for operating capital at the end of the most recent information available is fund balances at the end of fiscal 25. So, you know, not quite a year ago. But the fund balance total for all districts in the reserved account for operating capital is about $236 million. And just in terms of context that, you know, that's roughly equivalent to the annual revenue statewide in operating capital. It might be true that some districts
have
kind of fund balance policies that suggest that they should retain some there
for
future needs or unanticipated needs. But I hope that kind of general kind of order of magnitude answers your question, Senator Farnsworth.
Thank you, Madam chair. Thank you, Mr. Aronson. So, yeah, that answers my question, and it makes me a little bit more comfortable with this. And I've been talking, you know, for the last three years about flexibility, and schools need money to be able to spend it where they need it, not necessarily in these buckets that they might not need it. So I definitely appreciate the intent of this bill, so thank you for bringing it.
Any last remarks, any other questions or comments? I can just say that this committee has looked in many different areas to create flexibility. We created flexibility in school lunch balances. We created, we extended the LTFM for roofs. We have really tried to do the best that we could to be able to allocate those dollars when needed. There are restrictions, especially if there are federal restrictions, that we can't go above and beyond, even though chances are there's nobody there to check that. We're, you know, if we were to do that. But we hear the need and the want for flexibility within school districts. And, and we also have to be accountable to those dollars when we allocate those dollars to schools. And so this is just one more way of adding the 28th item to that flexibility. And thank you for bringing that forward. Any last words?
Chair Kunisch, you summed it up well.
Thank you.
Wonderful. All right, so with that, Senate File 4414 is laid over for possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill. Thank you, Senator. All right, Senator Farnsworth, you're next.
Cleaning up the space for you.
Just sign it there.
So, Senate Farnsworth, it is our intention again to lay Senate File 3761over for possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill. And I understand you have an amendment. Would you like to move your A1amendment?
Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to move the A1amendment.
Do you have any comments to it?
Yes, Madam Chair. So after the, after we drafted the original bill, there was at least one county, Cook county, or one school district, not Cook, Lake Superior School District, that wouldn't have been covered under this. And so they reached out and asked to be covered. And so now with this amendment, we have school districts in my Senate district, Senator Hochschild's district and Senator McEwen's district that have all asked for this legislation.
Thank you. Members, any questions or comments? All in favor of the A1amendment say aye. Any nays? The amendment passes. And why don't you move right onto your bill?
Thank you, Madam Chair and members. And also thank you to Senator Hochschild for co authoring this Senate file 3761. It's a simple bill that updates the current law related to school district swimming pool operations. Many rural school districts operate pools that serve both students and the broader community, supporting physical education, athletics, water safety and recreation. In many areas, these are only the only accessible aquatic facilities. While districts can levy for operating costs, an outdated population density requirement excludes some northeastern Minnesota school districts solely based on that threshold. This bill removes that requirement and ensures that districts in St. Louis Lake and Cook county are treated the same as similarly situated rural districts. It does not create a new program or mandate. It simply gives local communities the option to support these facilities through the levy. In a region defined by water, swimming is a critical life skill. This bill helps ensure these facilities remain viable for future generations. And one other comment. I'm not sure, Madam Chair, if we have a target in education this year. But because we don't want to add this to the cost of property taxes for our homeowners, I'm hoping that there could be some levy equalization. If you look at the fiscal note, you'll see that it will cost about one and a half million dollars, which would be would be ideal if we could could offer some levy equalization. But with that, I respectfully ask for your support of 3761. With me today are Proctor Superintendent Tim Router and Mesabi E Superintendent Jeff Burgess.
Welcome to the Capitol and welcome to our committee. Let's see. Miss Is it. Are you Superintendent Router? Okay. If you'd like to state your name for the record and you may begin.
Thank you. My name is Tim Roweider. I'm the superintendent at Proctor Public Schools and I want to thank the committee for allowing me to testify today. And as Senator Farnsworth mentioned, swimming pools are a huge part of the education of our students, not only across the state, but especially up in northern Minnesota where there are water is part of daily life. Many students live near lakes, have cabins, regularly participate in water recreation. So swimming is not just an extracurricular, it's a life saving skill. So providing consistent swimming and water safety instruction is essential for protecting our students in Proctor. Specifically during the school year we have approximately 350 students in grades six through eight that receive swimming and water safety instruction through our physical education classes. We are the home facility for the Proctor Hermantown and Proctor Esco Co Op cooperative Minnesota State high school swimming teams. And our community uses the pool through the Proctor Hermantown Community education through swim lessons, water aerobics, lap swims. During the summer we have over 100 children participate in swimming lessons and we also offer scuba lessons, water aerobics, open swim, and we also have the Barnum Community Education that comes and uses our facility. We've had a pool in Proctor since the 1940s and they've done a great job of upkeeping over the years. But the cost of keeping that going is rising and the infrastructure is aging. There's necessary system replacements and so the continued operation of this requires significant ongoing investments. Proctor meets two of the three statutory in St. Louis county meets two of the three statutory requirements to be given levy authority for the operating expenses for our pool. And so if we can have an amendment to this statutory requirement to allow for districts with more than 10 people per square mile of population density, that would allow us to have the opportunity to potentially have an annual savings in our operating expenses of about $150,000 for the Proctor school district to use in other ways in classroom instruction, student programming and academic support. So, again, this is a common sense adjustment that supports student safety, preserves community access to critical resources, and promotes fiscal responsibility for our school district. So thank you for your consideration and support of our students.
Thank you, Superintendent. And next we have Superintendent Burgess. If you'd like to join us online, please state your name for the record and you may begin.
Thank you.
My name is Jeff Burgess and I'm the superintendent of Mesabi School District.
Thank you.
Chair and members of the Senate Education Finance Committee. I'm here to respectfully ask you to expand access to the Minnesota school swimming pool levy so that more districts continue to operate these important community assets. Mesabi east has had a swimming pool for over 100 years. The school swimming pool is more than a place for academics. It is a central part of community education programs and community life. The pool supports our MSHSL swimming programs, physical education programs, lifeguard classes, early morning swim accessed by our elderly population and youth swimming lessons. Our youth swimming lessons serve swimmers as young as two years old and operate in the fall, spring and summer. Our tiny fish class offers the opportunity for parents to enter water with their young swimmers and help teach them how to swim. It is one of the most accessed facilities in our school. However, the finances are challenging. Pools are extremely expensive to operate and maintain. On average, our operating costs are on 150,000 per year for a variety of costs. In the past five years, Mesabi east has had to reduce our staff by over 20% and our expenditures every year. Local districts are closing pools because of these issues. This is not about building new amenities. It is about preserving a central part of the community. It is about ensuring that kids can learn to swim and our elderly population has access to wellness opportunities. Expanding access to the levy would provide a sustainable way for districts to maintain safe, high quality facilities without diverting resources away from the classroom. Although we are the land of 10,000 lakes up here in the north, those lakes are still quite chilly in June. I would like to thank Senators Farnsworth and House Child for their continued support of our communities. Thank you for your time and consideration. I'm happy to answer any questions.
Thank you, Superintendent. Any questions or comments, Senator Holstrom?
Thank you, Madam Chair. Senator Farnsworth. So without the levy assistance, this is going to be a tax increase on your districts, correct,
Madam Chair. Senator Holmstrom? Yes. Well, it would be if the elected school board chooses to levy for these costs. So that's why I mentioned the levy equalization. Hoping that the legislature could come up with a little bit of levy equalization to prevent that. Property tax, possible property tax increase follow up.
Thank you. Anyone else? I think this is an important bill, to tell you the truth. You are in the presence of three lifeguard swim teachers. In fact, we have one member here that actually saved a life this past year in a swimming pool. So I think we should commend Emma Zellmer for her courage and her ability to save a life. Thank you. We know that like over 900 kids a year unintentionally drown. And a lot of times it's because they haven't learned adequate swim skills or the ability to assess the situation that they're in and adjust their. Whatever they're doing in the water. And so I would hope that somehow we would be able to make this happen, if not this year. But this is, I think, an important issue as well. And again, as we talk about if we can save one kid, we've done our job. So thank you. Anyone else? Comment? Senator Farnsworth, if you'd like to.
Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. You sort of stole some of my closing comments, but I think it bears repeating.
You were going to talk about Ms. Elmer?
Yes. Yeah, no, I was talking about life saving. In rural communities, usually the school pool is the only pool that they have to give swimming lessons. And we know based on what you just said that the number one cause of death for children between the ages of 1 and 4 is drowning. And in these rural communities, you know, there aren't places like there are down here in the metro to go take swimming lessons. It would be these happen at the school. And so it's important not just for the school, not for the swim team, but also to help prevent those. Those drowning deaths. So thank you for hearing the bill, Madam Chair.
You are welcome. And so with that, Senate File 3761, as amended, is laid over for possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill. Members, we will just take a short recess while we wait for Senator Bolden to return so that she can present her last bill. So at this point, we are in recession.
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In session. Everybody take your seats, please. Senator Bolden, we will be hearing your 3983. And Senator Gustafson, would you like to move Senate file 3983 before the committee?
Yes.
Thank you, Senator. Boulder Bolden, when you are ready, please introduce your.
Your bill.
Thank you, Madam Chair. For the opportunity to present this bill it is our responsibility as legislators to help to prevent harm and this is a bill that attempts to do that. It is about anonymous threat reporting systems, sometimes called atrss, which are essential to stopping violence before it occurs. Schools routinely face a cultural barrier among teens who fear label who fear being labeled as a snitch, which is why anonymity is important to this tool. An effective ATRS would provide round the clock coverage and include a behavioral threat assessment team that reviews, reports and determines when law enforcement involvement is necessary. Much of the language in this bill reflects recommendations from Sandy Hook Promise, which is a organization that attempts is geared towards preventing gun violence and aligns with best practices that every school has an ATRS supported by a local behavioral threat analysis team. But we also recognize the significant challenges that schools face today, especially when it comes to funding. So because of these realities, this bill gives districts a choice. They may use and promote the the Department of Public Safety's statewide anonymous threat reporting system, or they can implement their own local system. For districts choosing to create their own system, they must also provide public education about the system and offer evidence based violence prevention training that teaches students how to identify and report warning signs. A locally implemented system must be available 24 hours a day, be staffed by individuals trained in evidence based counseling and crisis intervention, share relevant information promptly with school based teams, and support a coordinated emergency response including 911 when appropriate. If a district uses the statewide system, it must ensure that students, families, employees and community members receive clear information about how the system works. And this information must also be included on the district website, in the student handbook and in its annual notice to parents. So, Madam Chair, I do believe we have some testifiers and I look forward to questions and discussion.
Thank you very much, Mr. Kaufman. If you'd like to join us and then we'll hear from Mr. Uni. Would you please state your name for the record? And you may begin.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Rick Kaufman. For the record, I am the executive director of community relations and emergency management for Bloomington Public Schools. I'm also speaking today on behalf of the association of Metropolitan School Districts, the Minnesota association of School Administrators, and the Minnesota School Boards Association. We appreciate Senator Bolden's bill and the legislature's focus on anonymous reporting systems. When these are designed well, they're one of the most effective tools we have to prevent violence. As I've noted last week when I testified before this committee, I have 33 years working in and with schools across the country and crisis response, recovery preparation and behavioral threat detection and assessment. It is for the latter, that I have the expertise to speak on this particular bill. When these systems are designed, the video surveillance, access control, alarm systems, those help us to respond to a threat, but they rarely identify one before it occurs. And so we support anonymous reporting systems because they do. They surface those warning signs early so adults can intervene before a crisis develops. However, the success of these systems is not defined by the app or the technology. The critical moment is what happens after a tip is submitted, who receives it, how is it evaluated, how is it prioritized, and how quickly does it get to the people responsible for acting on it, including school professionals? And this is where the current approach falls short. Minnesota's existing state mandated systems is a starting point, but as currently structured and is reflected in the bill, it does not require immediate coordinated notification to school officials. Law enforcement may be notified, but school professionals, the ones trained to assess student behavior, to intervene and activate threat assessment teams, are not guaranteed to receive that information in real time. And that is a critical gap because most tips are not criminal in nature. Across the country, the majority of those tips involve bullying, mental health concerns, suicidal ideation, or a student in distress. These are not primarily law enforcement issues. They are prevention issues and they require timely school based intervention. If a report involving a student or a school community sits in a queue or is filtered only through law enforcement lens without immediate school notification, then we lose valuable and critical opportunity to intervene. I would also note very briefly that last week a report about a breach involving a national anonymous reporting platform underscores another reality. These systems carry sensitive, often life and death information, and that's why it reinforces the need for strong statewide standards, whether it's through the statewide system or for individual school districts. Not just for data security, but for how tips are received, triaged, and shared in real time with the right people. Because even the most advanced platform fails if the information doesn't get to those responsible for intervening. This legislation should fix that, but at a minimum, it should also require immediate notification to designated school district officials and local law enforcement when a tip involves a student or a school community and presents a potential safety concern. Clear statewide standards for triaging and classifying reports, distinguishing imminent threats from concerning behavior that requires intervention and defined response protocols so everyone understands who is responsible for acting and when. Now, none of this works without investment. Districts cannot absorb this responsibility without funding for staffing, training, implementation of behavioral threat assessment processes. So our ask is really straightforward. Please don't create a reporting mechanism. Build a system that ensures the right people get the right information at the right time to act. If we get that right, this will save lives. If we don't, we risk creating the appearance of safety without delivering it. So thank you so much for your time. Happy to be a resource as you continue to refine this bill.
Thank you so much Mr. Kaufman and then Director Uni if you'd like to join us.
Good morning Madam Chair and committee members. My name is Ado Schooney. I'm the Director of Government Relations with the Minnesota Department of Education. First, want to thank Senator Bolden for the opportunity to connect on this briefly. I just want to say the Department agrees that anonymous reporting system would be an important resource for the state. We know these systems empower students, staff and families to report potential threats of of violence. We also know it is important to have data on the utilization of these reporting systems to evaluate effectiveness as well as analyze any adverse effect impacts such as on particular student groups. This transparency takes rigorous data collection and reporting from other states experience. We found that one of the most critical factors in ensuring success is having a well resourced framework which includes resources to execute this framework rigorous data collection reporting again to evaluate effectiveness While the amendment does not currently account for the costs associated with adopting the data collection reporting system itself and asks MDE to absorb the costs, it is our hope that bringing the bill to the Education Finance Committee recognizes the need for resources to effectively implement the system. When MDE collects data, we have responsibilities to ensure that it's reported with fidelity and aligned with best validation practices. Before any reporting can occur, MDE has to design and build a standardized collection process and the corresponding technical infrastructure. This includes creating the data submission method or platform, incorporating safeguards for non public student information under FERPA and ensuring that the system can support consistent and reliable reporting across districts and charters. Because the bill allows districts and charters to self select the report reporting system that they would use, MDE would not receive data in a standardized format with data that can be validated on its face. Ensuring consistency across multiple systems would require staff time to align data, flag discrepancies and check for potential issues such as accidental inclusion of personally identifiable information. In addition to system development, there are also startup and ongoing costs associated with training and communicating with leas on the new reporting requirements. Again, I would like to emphasize that MDE fully supports the value of pursuing an anonymous threat reporting system framework for the state, but we strongly believe that resources are required to have a valid, effective and reliable system. Thank you again for the time to provide comments today.
Thank you Mr. Uni members, questions or comments? Senator Holstrom.
Thank you, Madam Chair. As I read through the bill, this is a, in multiple places it says that a local school district or charter school is encouraged to implement this technology. But then everything that describes the technology and everything following it uses the word must and is very, very prescriptive. My, my curiosity here is, is the goal or is the plan to get these created and then mandate that schools follow them after the fact? Because the word encouraged kind of takes all the teeth out of it. And then it just seems like next year we could be back here changing encouraged to must again.
Senator Bolden, response.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for the question. The goal is to support schools to be able to use one of these systems. There is the, the choice provided as shared of, you know, there is the, the statewide system currently that they can plug into and utilize. And I want to recognize the testimony that we have heard and just say that we, I continue to be in conversation to make this as as useful of a process and tool as as it should be. So making sure there's communication, making sure the right teams are notified, making sure there are resources to do it. But schools can utilize the statewide system that has already been developed or if they do not want to do that, they can choose to use a different system. And there are others out there, but the goal being that all schools across the state are utilizing a system.
Thank you. Follow up.
Yes, thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. So Senator Bolden, when I read through the the local reporting system requirements, again, very prescriptive, it must be staffed by evidence based counselors of crisis intervention training. It must, they must use resources to promote public awareness of it. They must establish a council with at least three school employees. If a school wants to have a program like this but maybe doesn't have every one of these metrics, are they prohibited from doing a similar program and then required to use a state statewide program? My fear is that the district might be doing 90% of this but have to stop all their, all their advancements because they can't afford whatever the next step is and then be forced to go all the way back and use the state program.
Senator Bolden thank you, Madam Chair. I will say that the requirements listed and again continuing to have conversations about those are intentional to ensure that the system is can do what it needs to do. And so it's sort of, it's evidence based. We know there's data and evidence as has been shared and tested testimony here today what makes these systems work well and if they don't sort of have all of the components or if they have some of the components but not others, it's not going to meet the intended goal. It's not going to actually provide the safety and security that we are intending. And so it is important that systems have sort of all of the elements that evidence tells us are necessary to meet the goal of actually providing some safety and not just sort of the illusion of safety. And so happy to again, we are continuing to have conversations about what those pieces are and want to support districts in that, but also want to be sure that they have the things in place that are necessary to actually provide this level of safety.
Thank you.
And follow up, final question about the statewide system does let's see, this would be through Department of Education or. No, it's through dps. Do they have the current resources to run the system if every school decides to start pointing in that direction?
Senator Bolden, thank you, Madam Chair. We have been in contact with the BCA and in a previous committee they testified with me as well and they are supportive of this process and we are in conversation and there are resources that are make that possible.
Thank you, Senator Clark.
Thank you, Chair Kunisch. Thank you, Senator Bolden, for bringing this. I should probably get my name added to this and help consult on this because in another world I have negotiated and worked on systems like this, but in the business setting and Senator Holmstrom, just for context, historically there was all sorts of in the business setting, anonymous reporting settings, reporting systems at many, many different companies and we've consolidated down to two in the United States and there are a couple other pop ups. But it's been the need to have a consistent process, a consistent system that does all of these pieces that is staffed 24 hours in a variety of language and has the expertise is reflected in this and requires something that's bigger than Dover EOTA High School is going to be able to do. And this is well thought out. I appreciate the dichotomy between encouraged and must and we need to figure that out to get that done. But the setup to make this work requires something that is bigger than each of our individual school districts. And so that's where I think we're going to find the economies of scale and the expertise that you're describing here because 90% is probably going to leave out a big gap that we need to have. And so that's where I think folks are going to go. Actually, it's going to save me a whole lot of money and time opting in, especially if we figure out a system that gets connected into Olmsted County Sheriff's Department, that is the oversight of or provides the support for Dobriota High School.
Thank you for that explanation, Senator Makeweed.
Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you, Senator Bolden, for bringing this bill. I actually just emailed you earlier to ask if I could sign on to it. I do, I do think that, you know, I'm getting, I'm getting closer to if we have a free system through DPS to a must. And then I did have a question instead of a May for districts, but I did have a question because we do have letters here from parents from Annunciation. And we had a, we had a town hall at a church in my district where the parents from Annunciation came and they told their stories, what that day was like, what happened to their kids, what's happening now, because it certainly is trauma that they're continuing to live with. And I'm wondering, there are very few places in law where we require private schools to do something, but I'm wondering if this is a place that we've considered including them in. Yeah.
Thank you for that. I'm sorry, what was, I'm, it's okay.
It was a question for Senator.
Question for Wolf. Go ahead.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for that question. I mean, I think that is certainly something we are thinking about. I mean, I think, you know, kids in private schools deserve to have the same safety and security that, I mean, every kid in Minnesota deserves to have that. And we want to have those tools available to all. So I appreciate that question. I will just say, and thank you for mentioning the families of Annunciation. And certainly, you know, our, our hearts go out to them. And we, you know, this is an opportunity to hopefully prevent something like that from happening in another school district. It really is geared at that prevention. And oftentimes when we have those situations, there are signs, there are things that, you know, potentially could be reported that may provide an opportunity to intervene before a crisis, a tragedy happens. And that really is what we are trying to get at here. And that should be available to all schools, all school districts, all kids across the state. So thank you for that
follow up.
Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you, Sarah Bolden. Yeah, I think, you know, we, it's probably worth a conversation with privates, and if they don't want to, that's fine. But I think this would be one, I think this is one place where we could probably say we're good doing that. And, you know, I will tell you that this already worked in a Minnesota School district this year. I represent ISD196. There was a threat made online on social media, displaying a wide barrage of weapons. And anonymous reporting is actually what brought it to the attention of the school. And there was, you know, it was real. It was a student. It was a student in the district. And so it is very likely that this exact type of thing in my district prevented a really terrible tragedy. And I think we should just have it statewide. So thank you for bringing the bill.
Thank you, Senator Maquaid. Anyone else? I have just one question. Of course, this is a finance committee, so I'm going to ask a little bit about finance. I especially appreciate that there is the ability to receive public and private dollars and resources outside of any state or federal funding. Are there. Are. Are you familiar with organizations that are interested in helping cover some of these costs? Can you talk a little bit more about how those fundings are going to make, you know, or are making it more possible for this program to succeed?
I appreciate that question. I believe that there are. I'm not going to go into details or name. Any name, any. Or. Or be specific because I don't want to misrepresent or misstate it, and I don't have it directly in front of me. But I think because of the heightened awareness of the impact and really the goal of this, I think there are groups who are wanting to invest, are wanting to support that, wanting to invest in that, making sure that their schools are safe. And so I do think there is opportunity for that based on, you know, conversations and sort of the heightened awareness of really the need for something like this.
Any final words?
Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the discussion. We'll continue to work on this and appreciate the consideration. It really is getting at that prevention. And as was shared, I thank Senator McQuade for providing an example. There really is an opportunity to prevent tragedy here. And it's also, I would just want to be clear, it's, you know, about preventing the tragedy and saving lives. It's also about getting resources to folks who are struggling and in crisis and also need help and support. And so across the board, there's opportunities here to be supporting and keeping our kids safe and appreciate your consideration.
You bet. You bet. All right, so with that, Senate File 3982 is laid over for possible inclusion in a future. Excuse me, 3983 is laid over for possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill. Members, before we wrap up, I would like to add Senate file 42 to our agenda tomorrow. It is the forecast article and the intention is to send that to the Finance Committee. Does anybody have any objection to that? Wonderful. So we will add that to our agenda tomorrow. Oh, Senator Farnsworth.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't have an objection. I'm just wondering if we have a sneak preview on what that might look like.
Yep.
So if you look at Senate file 4282 and there is a bill summary attached to that bill, so you can take a look at that. And then will you be posting that? Yep, if everyone's okay, we'll also post it on the on the Education Finance site. All right, so we will be adding Senate File 4282 to our agenda tomorrow. We also will have the Reed act update from the department. And here two bills. Senator Mayquaid, Senate file 3186 and Senator Weber's Senate file 4344. And unless there are any other questions, we are adjourned.