April 23, 2026

News from Tara Thomas of AASA

• Update on ED Transfers of K-12 Programs: On Friday, Department of Education (ED) announced it will be delaying plans to release FY26 formula funding such as Title I and REAP through a new grant management and payment portal at the Department of Labor and instead will funnel these dollars through the existing G5 platform. This means superintendents should not anticipate any delays in accessing funding for the 26-27 year on July 1. ED has made no commitments to keep funds on the G5 system for the remainder of the program year, and it is possible that the grants could be transferred mid-year or starting with the October 1st allocation - we will continue to monitor progress and work with ED to minimize disruption.

• DOJ Delays Website Accessibility Compliance for 1 Year: The Department of Justice published an interim final rule modifying the compliance timeline for its ADA Title II website accessibility requirements. The rule extends the original deadlines by one year. Under the revised schedule, larger public entities—defined as municipalities serving populations of 50,000 or more—now have until April 26, 2027 to comply. All other public entities, including smaller municipalities, have until April 26, 2028. More on The Leading Edge blog. 

Safety Measure Possibility-Law Enforcement Grant Round Two

You can find information here on the grant that if secured, would provide your school district with funds to secure a master key box you could share with law enforcement.

Invitation to Join MDE Community of Practice

We have been asked to share an opportunity for you to join the COMPASS-led Community of Practice focused on impacts from federal immigration enforcement operations. Though there is a webinar that will occur prior to the publication of this information, you may still join. Here is the information.

Leadership Matters!

In his journal, Ralph Aldo Emerson said about experimenting, “Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.”

Resource

***I’ll keep sharing the information below each week, as it’s important that we have all hands on deck leading up to the November election. We’ll need to help the public understand both the potential increase to school funding if the amendment passes and what the Permanent School Fund is.

Please consider the different ways you can share and amplify this information between now and the election. Thank you for your support!

A Guide to the Minnesota’s Permanent School Fund Constitutional Amendment prepared by our friends at MSBA that you can share with your staff, school board and community. We have a lot of education to do around what the constitutional amendment is all about.