Minnesota school district rejects, and then reconsiders, state’s guidelines for reopening amid pandemic

Erin Golden:

The board of Sibley East Public Schools voted last month to shift from hybrid to in-person instruction for all students — rejecting the recommendations of the district’s superintendent, state education officials and the state’s virus-count metrics for reopening as the number of local cases rose. Board members said they were following the wishes of a majority of parents, who are struggling to balance work with their children’s complicated schedules, and trying to help students who can’t log on in areas with spotty broadband connections.

But the move was short lived. Under pressure from the state Department of Education and advice of the district’s attorney, who warned that defying the state could prompt a legal battle, lost funding and fines or jail time for school board members, the board held an emergency session and reversed its vote. Sibley East’s reopening lasted exactly one week.

Superintendent Jim Amsden said the saga — like everything about operating schools in the pandemic — has been “extraordinarily stressful” for everyone involved.

“Our families are under a great deal of strain, our school staffs are under a great deal of strain, and it’s really in every area,” he said. “Our board is under a great deal of strain, because they want to do right by the families and our students.”

Under orders from Gov. Tim Walz and guidelines from the state education and health departments, Minnesota schools are granted some flexibility in their reopening decisions. Decisions about fully reopening, distance learning or combining the two for hybrid instruction are based on a number of factors. Chief among them: the rate of local COVID-19 cases per 10,000 residents over a two-week period.