Arts Standards Rulemaking Process FAQ – May 2020

May 13, 2020

The Minnesota Department of Education began the formal rulemaking process for the K-12 Academic Standards in the Arts. The Request for Comments was published in the State Register on May 29, 2018. The department completed the Statement of Need and Reasonableness (SONAR) and the final proposed rule draft. The Dual Notice was published in the State Register on January 13, 2020. The dual notice comment period ended on February 12, 2020. The department received more than 25 requests for a public hearing, and a hearing was held before an administrative law judge on March 2, 2020.

The post-hearing comment period ended on Monday, March 9, 2020. The five working day rebuttal period ended on March 16, 2020.

What are the recent developments in arts standards rulemaking?
The administrative law judge released a report on March 31, 2020, in the matter of Proposed Permanent Rules Related to Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in the Arts OAH 5-9005-35173; Revisor R-4531. This report was reviewed by the Chief Administrative Law Judge and she issued a memorandum on April 9, 2020. The proposed arts standards rules were disapproved due to lack of statutory authority. For more information about rulemaking related to the 2018 arts standards, including the report, see the MDE Arts Academic Standards Rulemaking page.

What are MDE’s next steps?
MDE is requesting “that the chief judge reconsider the disapproval” under Minn. R. 1400.2240, subp. 4. Once the request is submitted, the chief judge must review the request, and approve or disapprove the request for reconsideration within five business days. MDE anticipates submitting its request by early summer. If the chief judge reverses the disapproval of the proposed rules, the rulemaking process for the 2018 arts standards will proceed. If the chief judge affirms the disapproval, MDE will need to work with the legislature to clarify its statutory authority for rulemaking to review and revise the academic standards.

We’ve already started transitioning to the 2018 arts standards. What should we do?
If you’ve already started the process of transitioning to the 2018 arts standards, you may continue. At this time, the implementation timeline for the 2018 arts standards has not changed. If the disapproval is reversed, we will continue with implementation in the 2021-22 school year. If the disapproval is upheld, and MDE must clarify its statutory authority, the implementation year will likely be delayed until the 2022-23 school year. If it is necessary to delay the implementation timeline, MDE will communicate this as soon as possible. The 2018 arts standards were developed based on contemporary research and best practices in arts education, and supporting implementation will lead to improved instruction and learning in Minnesota schools.

Will this affect other content area standards?
This ruling is about MDE’s statutory authority, and therefore could apply to all content area state standards. At this time, the processes for review and revision of standards in science, ELA, and social studies are continuing, with no changes to implementation timelines.

For questions, contact mde.academic-standards@state.mn.us.