Enforce Student Membership on School Board

 

This bill will focus on the increase and enforcement of the membership of students on their respective School District

Board. The basic requirements for being a student school board member are the following: You must be a member of your

respective public school in that district (and maintain living on that status as a member of the school board), you must

be elected from your school, you must have no criminal background, there can be a max of 2 student members per school,

you must be a Junior or a Senior, and you must have a 3.5 GPA average. These students should have the ability to vote

and debate on policy, while proposing policy if they get 30% of students from their school to sign a petition. The

students will be elected within the first month of school; the date is up to the respective School Board. The students

will serve 1 year terms throughout the entire year, with term dates being up to the respective District. After the first

term ends, they are allowed to run for reelection. The students will get a monthly stipend of $200. To maintain status

on the School Board they must follow the previous requirements as well as they must attend at least 80% of all School

Board meetings with excused absences, and can only miss 4 meetings without excused absences. If a member is removed from

the School Board the school will have to hold a special election within a month after the removal. All schools must

follow the basic requirements, but all other rules of Student School Board membership are up to the respective school.

 

These types of bills have had a long history in Minnesota, starting as a bill in 1993 but eventually getting repealed in

1997. It has been attempted to get passed again multiple times since then, but those actions have not succeeded. It is

important for it to pass because it will increase the student representation within the School government. If the max

number of students per school goes to their School District government, it could increase from a ratio of 1 School Board

member per 382 students to 1 School Board member per 292 students, which would be a 90- student difference. It can also

increase student involvement in local politics, which will in turn increase the understanding of politics in younger

generations. There is also the work experience for students who want to pursue politics and/or students who just want to

have a better resume. High school students will receive higher levels of respect due to their work in local governments,

whereas currently they don’t receive much respect at all. There would be an increase in diversity in local governments,

with an increasing trust in more diverse groups at a younger age in local government. This bill can be proven to work,

as some form of this bill is a law in 19 other states, which have some of the highest pre-Covid and post-Covid public

education standards.

 

“School Board” - A local board or authority responsible for the provision and maintenance of schools within their

district.

”School District” - The geographical unit and area for where a School Board operates.

“Stipend” - A fixed regular sum paid as a salary or an allowance.

“GPA” - The average grade summary throughout your years of high school.

"Petition" - A formal written request (in this case, to make a policy) which would require a certain number of

signatures.

 

This bill would allocate $16,000,000 over a 10-year period to fund students' stipends, which would be transferred from

the state Education Budget and distributed to School Districts based on the number of high schools in each district.

Maintaining a future budget will be a top priority for local governments, which will involve fundraising and reviewing

refund options every 10 years.

 

In the case that one of the students is refused their stipend the entity who withheld the payment will be fined for the

amount of money that was not given to the student.

 

 

This bill will take place on June 1st 2026.