1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; integrating service-learning into Minnesota's education 
1.3 	system; establishing an evidence-based service-learning grant program; 
1.4 	appropriating money;amending Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 124D.50, by 
1.5 	adding a subdivision; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 
1.6 	124D.
1.7 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.8 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 124D.50, is amended by adding a subdivision 
1.9 	to read:
1.10 		Subd. 2a.Service-learning specialist; service-learning work. The commissioner shall 
1.11 	create a service-learning specialist position in the department to advance evidence-based 
1.12 	service learning, coordinate the service-learning grants program, and provide technical 
1.13 	assistance to school districts, schools, and school programs and to their community-based 
1.14 	partners or participants, such as nonprofit organizations, units of government, higher 
1.15 	education institutions, businesses or business organizations, community leaders, or parents. 
1.16 	The commissioner may provide or may contract for specialized expertise in school- and 
1.17 	community-based service-learning best practices, professional development or training, 
1.18 	service-learning research or evaluation, or development of service-learning "learning 
1.19 	communities" or "user group" support.

1.20 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective July 1, 2017.

1.21 	Sec. 2. [124D.501] INNOVATIVE INCUBATOR SERVICE-LEARNING GRANTS.
1.22 		Subdivision 1.Establishment; eligibility criteria; application requirements.  (a) A 
1.23 	five-year grant program is established to initiate or expand and strengthen innovative 
2.1 	service-learning opportunities for students in early childhood programs through grade 12 
2.2 	and thereby increase student academic achievement, and help close the academic achievement 
2.3 	gap and the community, college, and career opportunity gaps.
2.4 	(b) To be eligible to apply for and receive an innovative, incubator service-learning grant 
2.5 	under this section, at least one public school teacher, administrator, or program staff member 
2.6 	and at least one service-learning specialist, service-learning coordinator, or curriculum 
2.7 	specialist employed at a public school, public school program, or school district must form 
2.8 	an authentic student-adult partnership that includes one or more community-based 
2.9 	organizations or government units. The partnership may invite one or more other individuals 
2.10 	or entities, such as postsecondary faculty members or institutions, parents, other community 
2.11 	members, local businesses or business organizations, or local media representatives to 
2.12 	become partners or participate with the partnership, consistent with this paragraph. Before 
2.13 	developing and submitting a grant application to the department, participating students must 
2.14 	work with one or more adults who are part of the initial partnership to identify an issue, 
2.15 	need, or opportunity to pursue through a service-learning partnership and identify and invite 
2.16 	one or more possible partners to collaborate in developing and submitting a grant application. 
2.17 	The employing school district that is a member of the partnership or the school district of 
2.18 	the school or school program that is a member of the partnership is the fiscal agent for the 
2.19 	grant. An eligible service-learning partnership receiving an innovation service-learning 
2.20 	grant must:
2.21 	(1) include at least a group of enrolled students, two or more school district employees, 
2.22 	and an eligible community-based organization or unit of government; and
2.23 	(2) assist students to:
2.24 	(i) actively participate in service-learning experiences that meet identified student and 
2.25 	community needs or opportunities;
2.26 	(ii) operate collaboratively with service-learning partnership members;
2.27 	(iii) align service-learning experiences with students' individualized educational plans 
2.28 	and programs;
2.29 	(iv) apply students' knowledge and skills in their community and help solve community 
2.30 	problems;
2.31 	(v) foster students' civic engagement; and
2.32 	(vi) explore and pursue career pathways and achieve college readiness.
3.1 	An eligible partnership interested in receiving a grant must apply to the commissioner of 
3.2 	education in the form and manner determined by the commissioner. Consistent with this 
3.3 	subdivision, the application must describe how the applicant will: with guidance from the 
3.4 	service-learning partnership, incorporate student-designed and student-led service learning 
3.5 	into the school curriculum or in specific courses or across subject areas; provide students 
3.6 	with instruction and experiences during the school day using service-learning best practices 
3.7 	and an option to supplement their service-learning experiences outside the school day; align 
3.8 	service-learning opportunities with state and local academic standards; and make 
3.9 	implementing service-learning best practices an educational priority. The application also 
3.10 	must indicate how the partnership intends to provide student-designed, student-led 
3.11 	service-learning experiences that meet genuine community needs or develop genuine 
3.12 	community opportunities based on service-learning best practices aligned to state academic 
3.13 	standards. The partnership must work with a district service-learning specialist or 
3.14 	service-learning coordinator or a district curriculum specialist to design a grant application 
3.15 	and implement an approved grant application.
3.16 		Subd. 2.Innovation grants. The commissioner of education must award up to 32 grants 
3.17 	of up to $50,000 each to allow eligible partnerships, equitably distributed throughout 
3.18 	Minnesota by congressional district, to provide innovative, incubator service-learning 
3.19 	opportunities to students, consistent with this section. The commissioner may designate 
3.20 	start-up or leader grant categories with differentiated maximum grant dollar amounts up to 
3.21 	$50,000. Grantees designated as leader grantees may have to meet additional leader grant 
3.22 	requirements as indicated by the commissioner in the grant application criteria developed 
3.23 	by the commissioner. The commissioner may renew a grant annually as appropriations are 
3.24 	available and consistent with the grant criteria established in this section and other criteria 
3.25 	the commissioner may establish for grant eligibility or for renewing a grant. In order to 
3.26 	receive a grant, a partnership must provide a one-to-one match in funds or in-kind 
3.27 	contributions unless the commissioner decides to waive the match requirement for an 
3.28 	applicant serving a high number of students whose families meet federal poverty guidelines. 
3.29 	A partnership grantee must allocate the grant amount according to its grant application, 
3.30 	which must include conveying 50 percent of the actual grant amount to its community-based 
3.31 	organization or unit of government partner or partners to implement or help defray the direct 
3.32 	costs of carrying out the service-learning strategies and activities described in the partnership's 
3.33 	grant application.
3.34 		Subd. 3.Evaluation. The commissioner of education must evaluate these innovative, 
3.35 	incubator service-learning initiatives based on the educational and developmental outcomes 
4.1 	of students participating in the service learning and include summary data on the 
4.2 	characteristics and extent of students' participation in service learning, their development 
4.3 	of academic skills or achievements, and their engagement in school, school attendance, 
4.4 	course completion rates, opportunity to develop community, college, or career connections, 
4.5 	and the graduation rates for participating high school-age students. The commissioner also 
4.6 	must evaluate the success of the service-learning grants based on the community outcomes 
4.7 	and community results achieved through student service-learning experiences and the 
4.8 	corresponding student service activities. The commissioner must transmit an interim progress 
4.9 	report on student and community outcomes and results under this section to the legislative 
4.10 	committees with oversight over education by February 15, 2021, and a final report to the 
4.11 	same legislative committees by February 15, 2023.

4.12 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for the 2017-2018 through 2021-2022 
4.13 	school years.

4.14 	Sec. 3. APPROPRIATION.
 4.15 		Subdivision 1.Department of Education. The sums indicated in this section are 
4.16 	appropriated from the general fund to the Department of Education in the fiscal years 
4.17 	designated for the purposes of Minnesota Statutes, sections 124D.50, subdivision 2a, and 
4.18 	124D.501.
4.19 		Subd. 2.Service-learning specialist; service-learning work. For the service-learning 
4.20 	specialist position at the Department of Education under Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.50, 
4.21 	subdivision 2a, and for related service-learning work under Minnesota Statutes, section 
4.22 	124D.501:

4.23		$
	300,000
		2018
	
4.24		$
	300,000
		2019
	
4.25 		Subd. 3.Innovative service-learning grants. For innovative service-learning program 
4.26 	grants under Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.501:

4.27		$
	800,000
		2018
	
4.28		$
	800,000
		2019
	
4.29 	Any balance in the first year does not cancel but is available in the second year.