If the commissioner determines that segregation exists, the district shall provide a plan within 60 days that proposes how it shall remedy the segregation. The plan shall address the specific actions that were found by the commissioner to contribute to the segregation. The plan shall be developed in consultation with the commissioner. If the commissioner rejects any or all of the plan, the commissioner shall provide technical assistance to help the district revise the plan. However, if the district and the commissioner cannot agree on a plan within 45 days after the original plan was rejected, the commissioner shall develop a revised plan to remedy the segregation that the district shall implement in the time frame specified by the commissioner. A finding of segregation, or a finding that the district's initial plan is inadequate, shall be based on written findings of fact and conclusions of law issued by the commissioner.
If the commissioner has made a finding of segregation, student assignments based on race that are made to remedy the finding of segregation are permissible in a plan for mandatory desegregation, so long as they are narrowly tailored to remedy the act of segregation.
The commissioner may extend the time for response from a district under parts 3535.0140 and 3535.0150 if compliance with the deadline for response would impose an undue hardship on the district, for example, if the information is not easily ascertainable or the plan requires a complex remedy that includes consultation with outside sources.
If the district fails to submit data required by the commissioner, fails to provide or implement a plan to remedy the segregation, or fails to implement a plan developed by the commissioner as provided in subpart 1, the commissioner must:
Minn. R. agency 129, ch. 3535, SCHOOL DESEGREGATION/INTEGRATION, pt. 3535.0150
Statutory Authority: MS s 124D.896