Gov. Walz To Announce Plans To Help Minnesota Schools
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- State leaders are expected to lay out more support for Minnesota schools Tuesday.
Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan will be announcing the actions the state government will be taking to keep kids in school, as well as their plan to provide emergency staffing support.
Staff shortages have been among the top reasons schools have had to switch to online learning. Several districts switched to online learning in January during the peak of the omicron surge.
The state and federal governments are both pouring funding and resources into schools. President Joe Biden says it's necessary to keep kids in the classroom right now.
"We're gonna try like the devil to keep schools open because we do know that study after study as all of you know, the great universities in your states have done them, is that, you know, losing a semester can put a kid back a year-and-a-half," Biden said. "And so there's a whole lot we can have to do in my view to focus, and I think that keeping schools open is a big part of that."
The governor will be giving his announcement at an elementary school in the Twin Cities, and plans to meet with the kids and staff. WCCO will be there and bring the latest online and on air after it happens.
Minneapolis was the first to make the switch to online learning because of staffing in the new year. Superintendent Ed Graff said his top choice will always be to keep kids in the classroom, but switching between online and in-person is a reality for which they will always be prepared.
"We're going to make the best decisions we can with the information that we have that is going to support our students and our staff and keeping them safe and learning," Graff said. "Certainly we can't predict what tomorrow is going to bring, so we're going to just rely on what we know and we're going to do our best to be consistent and communicate as much as possible when there are changes that might come."
State funding has already provided free at-home testing kits for schools and top-grade medical masks.