Sen. Liz Boldon Introduces Bill to Restore Funds for Rochester School Mental Health Program

St. Paul, MN (KROC-AM News)- A state lawmaker representing Rochester in the Minnesota Senate has introduced a bill to restore a grant for the Rochester Public School District (RPS). 

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The funds were aimed at increasing the number of mental health professionals who are underrepresented when compared to the demographics of the RPS student body, according to RPS Superintendent Kent Pekel. 

Last April, the U.S. Department of Education informed RPS it was terminating the $1.9 million federal grant. 

Read More: Feds Cut $1.9 Million Grant for Rochester Public School District 

The department indicated the grant violated civil rights law, contradicted the department’s policy to prioritize merit and was an “inappropriate use of federal funds.” 

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RPS appealed the Department of Education’s decision, saying the program did not exclude people from other backgrounds and life experience from participating but the appeal was denied last September. 

Read More: RPS Appeal of Grant Termination Denied 

The money was scheduled to have fully paid out by the end of last year. The district had received about $1 million before the termination. 

DFL Sen. Liz Boldon Introduces Bill to Restore Funding for RPS Mental Healthcare Training Program

On Tuesday, DFL Sen. Liz Boldon presented a bill that would allocate $1 million to RPS to resume the program, which had 24 participants when it was canceled. 

“By discontinuing the grant, the federal government forced nearly two dozen participants to decide between suspending their degree progress or incurring student loans that they were not expecting to have to borrow,” a news release issued by Boldon’s office says. 

Sen. Boldon also says the termination of the funding “jeopardized the wellbeing of students in Rochester, who stood to benefit from having expanded access to mental health professionals and social workers in their schools.” 

The Rochester lawmaker presented the bill to the Senate Education Finance Committee. It was laid over for possible consideration in an education omnibus bill that could be considered later in the session.