From MDE

Last week, Congress passed federal funding legislation, and President Trump signed the bill into law, ending the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history.

For most federal agencies, the continuing resolution appropriates funding through Jan. 30, 2026. The package includes three full-year FY 2026 appropriations bills (Agriculture–FDA, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction–VA), which fund those agencies through Sept. 30, 2026.

Federal education investments are a critical part of how districts and charter schools across Minnesota structure and provide high-quality education to more than 870,000 students across our state. We are hopeful Congress will pass, and the President will sign, legislation to fund the remaining agencies through the end of federal fiscal year 2026. We will continue to monitor the situation in Washington—especially as the January 30 deadline nears—and will continue to be in communication with you.

Amidst the constant change, we continue to follow the federal laws that guide our work in education, the laws that continue to govern the longstanding protections and supports students and schools depend on every day. And our “Tracking Federal Education Investments in your Community” page, which highlights how federal dollars support individual public school districts and charter schools in every corner of our state, continues to be a resource to support your communications and advocacy.

We will continue to advocate for stability and clarity amidst federal uncertainty. As always, MDE remains here to provide information, support, and connection as we navigate these changes together. In Minnesota, our commitment hasn’t changed: ensuring every student, of every background and ability, has access to a world-class education. Thank you for everything you do for your students and communities.

By Melissa Schaller, MASE Representative to CASE

• Read the press release (To Honor IDEA’s 50th, National Organizations Team Up to Support Children with Disabilities and Educators) regarding the shared principles the Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE) and the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA), signed with more than 850 individuals and organizations—MASE included! Together we affirm our shared commitment to ensuring that children and youth with disabilities receive the education and support fundamental to their growth and development.

• “60 Minutes with Myrna” on Dec. 9 is open to the public. Please mark this on your calendar. Important news will be shared about the real potential for IDEA to be moved to Health and Human Services.

• The CASE Academy of Law and Leadership is being held in Atlanta, Georgia, April 21-23, 2026. Registration will open in early December, so be on the lookout. This is an outstanding event as with all the professional development offered by CASE.

From MDE

The FY27 competition for the Grow Your Own (GYO) grant is now posted.

GYO programs are partnerships between districts, charter schools, service cooperatives, or Tribally Controlled Schools, and teacher preparation programs that help local residents—such as parents, school staff, and students—become teachers in their own communities, with a focus on diversifying the teacher workforce by prioritizing candidates of color and Indigenous candidates. Districts, charters, cooperatives and Tribally Controlled Schools may apply for either adult, student, or both programs to support candidates to become teachers. Most adult program grants will not exceed $750,000; however, there is no maximum grant award. The grant provides support over five years to fund scholarships, stipends, and wraparound services for candidates pursuing their first professional teaching license. Within the adult grants at least 80 percent of the awarded funds must be spent on candidates of color or Indigenous candidates. Student programs may apply for up to $500,000 across five years to provide future teacher clubs, service learning, concurrent enrollment introduction to education type courses, wrap-around supports and scholarships. Participation in student programs must match or exceed local demographics with any scholarship funds going solely to students of color or Indigenous students pursuing a teacher licensed at an approved Minnesota teacher prep program.

For assistance with questions, contact Kleber Ortiz (Adult Pathway) or Kristie Anderson (Student Pathway). The grant application is due on January 15, 2026.

From MDE

This is a reminder that December 1, 2025, is approaching and SEDRA and ACTE-SPED will be closing for State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2025.

The systems will be left open until 4 p.m. on December 1, 2025, to give Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) the opportunity to verify all reported special education expenditures with the business office and with the yearly audited Uniform Financial Accounting and Reporting Standards data.

Read the full announcement

From MDE

Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) will need to complete the financial closeout process in MEGS for all federal special education finance (FIN) codes for SFY 2025 by December 1, 2025. This will move any carryover funds into SFY 2026. If you have an open SFY 2026 application, you should see carryover appear under the Allocations tab for prior year funds.

Make sure to reconcile all Special Education Data Reporting Application (SEDRA) budgets to Uniform Financial Accounting and Reporting Standards (UFARS) data before making your final reimbursement requests in MEGS. Once these steps have been completed, then you can complete the closeout reports in MEGS.

Read the full announcement

Thanks to all who have renewed already. We sent emails yesterday who still appear to have an outstanding balance, and we will work through some instances where payment was made but not recorded. We will drop anyone who still has an outstanding balance on Dec. 2. We believe we have resolved many of the issues surrounding CEC/CASE membership—but please reach out to us if you are still experiencing problems accessing your national membership(s). Important: If you are part of a district with a central billing office, we need to have your billing contact in our system so that they receive notifications if you have chosen the invoice option for your membership (or for conference and event registration).

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out; staff are all happy to assist!

As required under Minnesota statutes 2025, section 120B.117, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) collaborating with Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB) and the Minnesota Office of Higher Education (OHE) has published a summary report of each of the programs they administer and any other programs receiving state appropriations that have or include an explicit purpose of increasing the racial and ethnic diversity of the state’s teacher workforce to more closely reflect the diversity of students.

The report includes recommendations for state policy and funding to achieve the goal in Minnesota Statutes 2025, section 120B.117, subdivision 2  to increase by at least two percentage points per year the percentage of teachers who are of color or who are American Indian to have a teaching workforce that more closely reflects the state’s increasingly diverse student population and to ensure all students have equitable access to effective and diverse teachers by 2040.

Thursday, December 18, 2025 | 3 p.m.

I hope you’re enjoying a wonderful autumn and looking forward to the holiday season. I would love to connect with you to check in, hear how things are going, and discuss how MASE can continue supporting you—as well as how your experience and insight can support MASE.

Please join me for a brief Google Meet on December 18 at 3 p.m. The meeting link is included below. I hope to see you there.

https://meet.google.com/yjp-gsae-fhn?authuser=0&hs=122 

Take care,

Diane McCarron

From Paul Ferrin, Supervisor, Division of School Finance

The special education child count data reporting process through the Minnesota Automated Reporting Student System (MARSS) has been completed for the November 13, 2025, reporting deadline. Students included in child count must be reported on MARSS with a Special Education Evaluation Status (SEES) of 4 or 6. Refer to the MARSS Reference Guide for definitions of the SEES. Report 13 has been posted to the website and can be accessed at the following location:

Data Center > Data Reports and Analytics > Minnesota Funding Reports (MFR)

Read the full announcement

From MDE

School districts, charter schools, and Tribally Controlled Schools interested in exploring an innovative teacher workforce pathway are invited to attend an upcoming Registered Teacher Apprenticeship Information Webinar.

Featuring experts from the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, MDE, and Teacher Apprenticeship Sponsors, this session will highlight how this “earn and learn” model can help your district recruit, prepare, and retain high-quality teachers through strong partnerships with teacher preparation providers, unions, and state agencies.

Participants will gain a clear understanding of the registered teacher apprenticeship model, key requirements, current progress across the state, and practical next steps for program development and registration.

Two webinar sessions will be offered, each covering the same information. Recordings will also be available to those who wish to view the presentation at a later time.

• Register for the December 8, 2025, webinar at 1 p.m.

• Register for the December 18, 2025, webinar at 1 p.m.

Join us to learn how your district can take the next step in growing your own future educators.

Each year, MASE provides an opportunity to recognize outstanding members who are dedicated leaders and advocates for children and education communities across the state. We encourage you to consider nominating yourself or a colleague for recognition. Nominate someone who reflects the qualities of a leader committed to education and who is an exemplary representative of MASE. Please remember that anyone can nominate for MASE awards. Please feel free to share award nomination information with your staff and community. Information about each of the awards is linked below:

• Distinguished Service Award

• Legacy Award

• New Special Education Leader Award

• Special Education Administrator of the Year Award

MASE Award candidates may be self-nominated or nominated by someone else. 

Access the award nomination form here.

Nomination deadline is November 28, 2025.

Thursday, December 18, 2025 | 10–11 a.m.

In this virtual training, you will gain an understanding of how the Minnesota Legislature works and learn practical strategies to connect with your state legislators. Together, we’ll explore the importance of grassroots advocacy, discuss effective ways to build relationships with elected officials, and walk through how to craft a compelling elevator pitch to share the story of special education.

We do ask that you register to help us avoid Zoom-bombing.

Our next SLICE webinar will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 2! The topic for this session is Experiences with Fiscal and Compliance Monitoring. The presenters will be Tiffany Litman, Andrea Fladeboe, Kori Ryan, and Melissa Hanson. Join us at Noon for informal conversations with your colleagues from across the state. 

To avoid "Zoom bombing," we do ask that you register in advance—there's no cost. These sessions are open to members only. You'll receive the link to join in your confirmation email. 

Reminder: You must login to our website to see the registration button for this event.

You can register for additional SLICE sessions on the MASE website—check our Calendar.

MSU-Moorhead currently has MDE School Psychology Pipeline funds to help defray costs for attending our graduate program and reduce barriers for people interested in a career in Minnesota—up to $27,000 in scholarships and support for the first two pre-internship years of coursework.

The program has both in-person (10-12 slots) and remote (4-6 slots) options in our NASP-approved program and encourage Grow Your Own applications—but because it is very competitive (especially for the remote spots) it is a good idea for the district and applicant to talk to us during the application process so we can get an idea of who is applying and what regional/MN needs they would be filling.

MSU-Moorhead has three upcoming virtual open houses for people to get some more information about our program, application (due Feb. 1), grants, etc., on Nov. 17, Dec. 8, and Jan. 14.

Contact: Lisa Stewart, Director of the School Psychology graduate program at MSU-Moorhead

Hosted by SWWC Service Cooperative

Join us this January for a hands-on, evidence-based training designed to help school teams move beyond awareness and build a safe, systematic, and sustainable K–12 threat assessment and management model.

Participants will learn CSTAG’s structured decision-making process, receive practical implementation tools, and leave with a district-specific plan aligned with legal and best-practice guidelines.

📅 January 22, 2026 | ⏰ 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (Registration 8:00–8:30 a.m.)

📍 Redwood Area Community Center, Redwood Falls, MN

👤 Trainer: Mark Muscat, School Psychologist & Behavior Intervention Specialist

💡 Registration Deadline: January 15, 2026

Lunch, materials, and resources included.