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Senate committee advances bill to broaden what counts as instructional hours for secondary students
Summary
Senate File 2250 would let Minnesota school districts count supervised internships, apprenticeships and project-based learning as instructional hours for secondary courses. Students, school leaders and education advocates testified in support and the committee sent the bill to Education Finance.
Senate File 2250, carried by Senator Maquaid, seeks to define and modernize the statutory meaning of "hours of instruction" in secondary schools so that districts may count supervised internships, apprenticeships, project-based learning and other verified educational experiences toward academic credit.
Young people who testified described how nontraditional learning experiences helped them stay engaged and earn credits. "This bill would allow schools to count real world learning like internships and apprenticeships as instructional time," said Julian Spencer, a North High School graduate and organizer with Good Trouble. Sarah Boscia, a 2024 graduate, told the committee that a mentorship program helped her recover from a family loss and provided paid internships and college-readiness experiences she could not earn credit for under current rules.
Administrators and program leaders said the bill preserves accountability. Jeff Palicki, principal at Shakopee High School, said the proposal requires educational experiences to be "supervised, coordinated, and verified by a qualified teacher" and to be approved by local school boards, and insisted the bill would not change pupil-unit funding or impose mandates on districts that do not want to change.
Education advocates and researchers urged the committee to approve flexibility to improve engagement and reduce absenteeism. Dr. Akila Roberson, policy director at Education Evolving, cited research showing that personalized, hands-on learning increases attendance and test performance and noted students spend only a small portion of waking hours in formal classroom instruction.
Committee members asked whether school boards would retain final authority to approve what counts for credit; the author confirmed that local boards would determine which experiences qualify and how they are supervised. The bill was voted out of committee and referred to Education Finance.
Action recorded: SF 2250 sent to Education Finance.
