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School responses in Minnesota to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

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Responses by state


As students returned to school for the 2021-2022 school year, states set a variety of policies on education and the COVID-19 pandemic, including how schools should open to in-person instruction and whether students and staff would be required to wear masks. By the end of the 2020-2021 school year, about 66% of students nationwide were in states that left closure decisions to schools or districts, 33% were in states with state-ordered in-person instruction, and 1% were in states with state-ordered regional school closures.[1][2] All 50 states closed schools to in-person instruction at some point during the 2019-2020 school year in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

This article summarizes responses to the coronavirus in Minnesota schools in the academic years ending in 2020, 2021, and 2022. You will find:

Ballotpedia’s coverage of COVID-19 includes how federal, state, and local governments are responding, and how those responses are influencing election rules and operations, political campaigns, the economy, schools, and more.

This page is updated monthly, but our email is always open. We encourage you to share updates from local officials, policymakers, and campaigns in your community at editor@ballotpedia.org.


Timeline by school year

Below is a list of major events involving schools in Minnesota during the coronavirus pandemic between 2019 and 2022, including school closings and openings, mask requirements, and the release of statewide operating guidance. Know of something we missed? Click here to email us and let us know.

2021-2022 school year

  • Sept. 9, 2021: At the beginning of the school year, Burbio, a school data aggregator, reported no in-person schooling disruptions in Minnesota.[3][4]


2020-2021 school year

  • June 29, 2021: At the end of the school year, Burbio reported most schools were in-person in Minnesota .[5][6]
  • February 22, 2021: On Feb. 22, all middle and high school students were allowed to return to the classroom for either full-time instruction or a hybrid approach combining remote and in-person instruction. Gov. Tim Walz (D) said he expected schools to offer some in-person instruction by March 8. Under the plan, families could still opt to keep their children home for remote instruction.[7]
  • February 17, 2021: Gov. Tim Walz (D) released a plan to return students to in-person instruction. On Feb. 22, all middle and high school students were scheduled to return to the classroom for either full-time instruction or a hybrid approach. Walz said he expected all schools to offer some in-person learning by March 8. Under the plan, families could still opt to keep their children home for remote instruction.[7]
  • Sept. 10, 2020: At the beginning of the school year, Burbio reported a majority of schools were using virtual or hybrid learning in Minnesota .[8][9]
  • July 30, 2020: Gov. Tim Walz (D) released the Safe Learning Plan for reopening schools for the 2020-2021 school year. The plan required a county to have fewer than 9 coronavirus cases per 10,000 residents over a 14-day period in order to fully reopen schools.[10]


2019-2020 school year

  • April 23, 2020: Gov. Tim Walz (D) announced that schools would not reopen for in-person instruction for the remainder of the academic year. Prior to the announcement, schools were closed through May 1.[11]
  • March 25, 2020: Walz announced that the statewide school closure, scheduled to end March 27, was extended through May 1.[12]
  • March 15, 2020: Walz announced the closing of all K-12 schools in the state, effective March 18 until March 27.[13]

Mask and vaccine requirements in the 2021-2022 school year

Mask requirements in schools

See also: School responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2021-2022 academic year

As of August 1, 2022, no states had school mask requirements in effect. Forty-two states left mask requirements in schools up to local authorities. Seven states banned school mask requirements.

The table below shows statewide school mask requirement laws and orders in states with school mask requirements or school mask requirement bans in place at the end of the 2021-2022 school year.

Mask requirement orders
State Ban or requirement? Type of order Date lifted or altered
Arizona Ban Legislative action N/A
Arkansas Ban Legislative action Sept. 30, 2021 - Suspended by court action
California Requirement California Department of Public Health order March 12, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Connecticut Requirement Executive order Feb. 28, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Delaware Requirement Executive order March 1, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Florida Ban Executive order N/A[14]
Georgia Ban Legislative action N/A
Hawaii Requirement Executive order Aug. 1, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Illinois Requirement Illinois Department of Public Health order Feb. 4, 2022 - Suspended by court action[15]
Iowa Ban Legislative action May 16, 2022 - Reinstated by court action[16]
Kentucky Requirement Kentucky Board of Education order Sept. 9, 2021 - Suspended by state law
Louisiana Requirement Executive order Feb. 16, 2022 - Lifted by executive action[17]
Maryland Requirement Maryland State Board of Education order March 1, 2022 - Lifted by executive action[18]
Massachusetts Requirement Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education order Feb. 28, 2022 - Lifted by executive action[19]
Nevada Requirement Executive order Feb. 10, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
New Jersey Requirement Executive order March 7, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
New Mexico Requirement New Mexico Public Education Department order Feb. 17, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
New York Requirement Executive order March 3, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Oklahoma Ban Executive order N/A
Oregon Requirement Oregon Health Authority and Department of Education order March 12, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Pennsylvania Requirement Pennsylvania Department of Health order Dec. 10, 2021 - Suspended by court action
Rhode Island Requirement Executive order March 4, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
South Carolina Ban Legislative action Sept. 28, 2021 - Temporarily suspended by court action
Tennessee Ban Executive order Dec. 10, 2021 - Suspended by court action
Texas Ban Executive order N/A[20]
Utah Ban Legislative action N/A
Virginia Ban Legislative action N/A
Washington Requirement Washington State Department of Public Health order March 12, 2022 - Lifted by executive action

School mask requirements over time

School mask bans over time


Teacher and school employee vaccine requirements

See also: School responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2021-2022 academic year

Seven states had issued a statewide requirement for K-12 teachers and staff to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or receive regular coronavirus testing during the 2021-2022 school year. The table below shows teacher and staff vaccine requirement laws and orders in states that issued such policies during the 2021-2022 school year.

Vaccine requirement orders
State Testing instead of vaccination allowed? Type of order Date effective
California Yes California Department of Public Health order Oct. 15, 2021
Connecticut No Executive order Sept. 27, 2021
Delaware Yes Executive order Nov. 1, 2021
Illinois Yes Executive order Issued: Sept. 19, 2021
Suspended by court action on Feb. 4, 2022
New Jersey Yes Executive order Oct. 18, 2021
New York Yes Executive order Sept. 19, 2021
Oregon No Executive order Oct. 18, 2021
Washington No Executive order Oct. 18, 2021


Student vaccine requirements

See also: School responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2021-2022 academic year

On Oct. 1, 2021, California was the first state to announce a vaccine requirement for eligible students. Louisiana also announced a vaccine requirement for eligible students on Dec. 14, but then announced the state would be removing the coronavirus vaccine from the list of required immunizations in schools on May 18, 2022.

School reopenings and closures (2020-2021 academic year)

See also: School responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2020-2021 academic year

Initial school year operating plan

See also: Documenting America's Path to Recovery: August 17, 2020

Minnesota released an initial operating plan for the 2020-2021 school year on July 30, 2020. An analysis of this plan appeared in our Documenting America's Path to Recovery newsletter on August 17. The sections below include an analysis of the plan, the details of the plan, and reactions from officials to the plan.

On July 30, Gov. Tim Walz (D) announced the state’s guidelines for school reopening, the Safe Learning Plan for 2020-21. Walz stated, “As a classroom teacher for more than 20 years and a parent of a child in public schools, I am committed to providing a world-class education to our students while keeping them and their teachers safe. With this approach, we are pairing the knowledge and data from our Departments of Health and Education with the expertise of our local school districts to make the best decisions for our students across the state.”

Minnesota does not have a statewide date for public schools to reopen—individual districts that meet the state’s requirements can set their own timelines, depending on the virus’ effect on their community. According to EdWeek, public schools in Minnesota traditionally start the academic year after Labor Day, with the exact start date varying by district.

On March 15, Walz announced the closing of all K-12 schools in the state from March 18 to March 27. On March 25, Walz extended the closures until May 1. Walz closed schools for the remainder of the academic year on April 23.

Context

Minnesota has a divided government. The governor is a Democrat, and Democrats have a majority in the state House while Republicans have a majority in the state Senate. The state has had a divided government since 2015.

The following tables show public education statistics in Minnesota, including a rank comparing it to the other 49 states. Rank one is the highest number of each figure, rank 50 is the lowest. All data comes from the Common Core of Data provided by the National Center for Education Statistics.

Minnesota school metrics
Category Figure Rank
Per pupil spending (16-17) $16,145 15
Number of students (18-19) 889,294 21
Number of teachers (Fall 2016) 56,715 20
Number of public schools (18-19) 2,555 11
Student:teacher ratio (18-19) 15.4 21
Percent qualifying for free/reduced lunch (16-17) 37.7% 45


Minnesota school revenue
Category Figure Rank
Total revenue $12,183,690,000 16
Federal revenue percent 5.7% 44
State revenue percent 66.7% 5
Local revenue percent 27.5% 43

Details

District reopening plans
Districts are responsible for developing their own reopening plans in coordination with local health departments. The guidance does not say whether the plans must be posted publicly.

In-person, hybrid, and online learning
Local school districts determine the specific model for learning. That decision must be based on health data and made in coordination with state guidelines. School districts are given the base model for the type of instruction from the state based on the county’s health data for the previous two weeks. The guidance document specifies which model is required based on the data:

Number of cases per 10,000 over 14 days, by county of residence Learning Model
0-9 In-person learning for all students
10-19 In-person learning for elementary students; hybrid learning for secondary students
20-29 Hybrid learning for all students
30-49 Hybrid learning for elementary students; distance learning for secondary students
50+ Distance learning for all students

Schools are then required to consult with local public health officials and choose a model for the start of the year. Individual districts can decline or limit in-person instruction at their own discretion, even if the state’s guidelines permit it. After the year begins, schools are to monitor the local health data to determine if a change in learning model is required.

All students also have the option to attend virtually. According to the Minnesota Department of Education, “Regardless of which learning model is being implemented at the school building, all school districts and charter schools must offer an equitable distance learning model to all families who choose not to attend in-person learning due to medical risks or other safety concerns.”

Mask requirements
All faculty, staff, and students are required to wear face coverings, with exceptions for children under the age of five and those with documented disabilities that make wearing a face covering unreasonable. The state will provide one cloth mask for every teacher, staff member, and student in public schools.

In-person health recommendations and requirements
When learning is done in person, all schools are required to have a preparedness plan that addresses health and safety practices. The state’s guidance document does not provide specific requirements, but it does say each school’s preparedness plan should address the following:

  • Maintaining social distancing of at least 6 feet between people,
  • Meeting face covering requirements,
  • Cleaning of high-touch surfaces throughout the day,
  • Limiting nonessential visitors, volunteers, or external groups,
  • Incorporating hygiene education and routines,
  • Discontinuing large gatherings or activities that do not allow for social distancing,
  • Monitoring the health of students and staff while following an exclusion policy for those with COVID-19 symptoms, and
  • Requiring personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff who provide direct support services.

The state’s planning guide encourages the use of playground equipment if six feet of physical distancing is possible. The state also requires markers on the floor in high traffic areas to encourage distancing and requires that schools discontinue self-service of food in cafeterias.

If a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19 or comes in close contact with someone who has tested positive, they must quarantine for 14 days. School districts are required to develop a testing and response strategy with local public health officials to determine the best practices for responding to positive cases and symptomatic students.

Transportation and busing requirements and restrictions
The plan requires all students and staff to wear face coverings while on school transportation. If a school is operating under a hybrid model with social distancing requirements, buses are limited to 50% capacity, according to the state’s planning guide for schools.

Responses

After the plan was unveiled, Deb Henton, executive director of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators, said, “I do believe that our educators in the state are going to be happy with the decision. Some school districts are going to have to be in the full-on distance learning mode that they may not have wanted to be in, but they understand."

Map of school closures

The map below shows the status of school reopenings and closures at the end of the 2020-2021 academic year.

As of July 8, 2021, the status of school closures and reopenings was as follows:

  • Two states (Delaware, Hawaii) and Washington, D.C. had state-ordered regional school closures, required closures for certain grade levels, or allowed hybrid instruction only.
    • 2019-20 enrollment: 410,896 students (0.81% of students nationwide)
  • Thirteen states had state-ordered in-person instruction.
    • 2019-20 enrollment: 15,697,460 students (30.96% of students nationwide)
  • One state (Arizona) had state-ordered in-person instruction for certain grades.
    • 2019-20 enrollment: 1,152,586 students (2.27% of students nationwide)
  • Thirty-four states left decisions to schools or districts.
    • 2019-20 enrollment: 33,449,499 students (65.96% of students nationwide)



School reopenings and closures (2019-2020 academic year)

See also: School responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2019-2020 academic year


The map below shows the status of school reopenings and closures at the end of the 2019-2020 academic year.

  • States closed to in-person instruction for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year: 48
  • Number of public school students in states closed to in-person instruction for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year: 50,261,464


The chart below shows the first date schools in a state were closed to in-person instruction during the 2019-2020 academic year, divided by the political party of the governor.

School responses by state

To read about school responses to the coronavirus pandemic in others states, click one of the following links below:

General resources

The chart below shows coronavirus statistics from countries across the world. The information is provided by Real Clear Politics.

Click the links below to explore official resources related to the coronavirus outbreak.


See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Number of operating public schools and districts, student membership, teachers, and pupil/teacher ratio, by state or jurisdiction: School year 2019–20," accessed September 10, 2021
  2. ↑ EducationWeek, "Map: Where Were Schools Required to Be Open for the 2020-21 School Year?," June 14, 2021
  3. ↑ To read more about Burbio's school disruption tracking, click here
  4. ↑ Burbio, "Burbio's K-12 School Opening Tracker," accessed August 27, 2021
  5. ↑ Burbio rated Minnesota's in-person index at 95.8. To read more about Burbio's school opening tracker, click here. To read more about Burbio's methodology, click here.
  6. ↑ Burbio, "Burbio's K-12 School Opening Tracker," accessed Oct. 6, 2021
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named MN218
  8. ↑ Burbio rated Minnesota's in-person index between 20-40. To read more about Burbio's school opening tracker, click here. To read more about Burbio's methodology, click here.
  9. ↑ Burbio, "Burbio's K-12 School Opening Tracker," accessed Oct. 6, 2021
  10. ↑ StarTribune, "'Localized' Minnesota school plan sets thresholds for reopening," July 30, 2020
  11. ↑ Union Times, " Gov. Tim Walz orders schools closed the remainder of year," April 23, 2020
  12. ↑ KBJR, "Minnesota governor: asks residents to stay home for 2 weeks, restaurant/bar, school closures to continue to May," March 25, 2020
  13. ↑ Minnesota Star-Tribune, "Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says K-12 schools closing; state now has 35 confirmed cases of COVID-19," March 15, 2020
  14. ↑ On Sept. 2, 2021 the ban was temporarily suspended by court action. An appeals court upheld the ban on Sept. 10.
  15. ↑ Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) ended the statewide school mask requirement on Feb. 28, 2022.
  16. ↑ On Sept. 13, 2021 the ban was temporarily suspended by court action for all schools. On Jan. 25, 2022, the ban was partially reinstated.
  17. ↑ Oct. 26, 2021 - School districts could be exempt from the school mask requirement if they followed CDC quarantine guidance
  18. ↑ Dec. 7, 2021 - School districts could be exempt from the school mask requirement if they met one of the three following criteria: 1) the county vaccination rate was 80% or higher, 2) 80% of school staff and students were vaccinated, or 3) COVID-19 transmission in the county was considered moderate or low for 14 straight days.
  19. ↑ Oct. 1 - Schools could become exempt from the school mask requirement when at least 80% of students were vaccinated
  20. ↑ On Nov. 10, 2021 the ban was suspended by court action. An appeals court upheld the ban on Dec. 1.
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