In 2012, the Minnesota Legislature passed a law enabling two or more school districts to form an “innovation zone”, to collaborate and share resources in order to improve student and school outcomes. There are currently four innovation zones active under this 2012 law.

In May 2017, the Legislature expanded on the original innovation zone concept by creating a new program. Under the program, schools and districts part of an innovation zone gain flexibility from rule and law in order to implement and research new approaches to learning. This addition of rule and law flexibility is a major change from the initial 2012 legislation, which provided no such flexibility.

As of January 2019, there were four innovation zones in Minnesota:

• Bloomington Public Schools (Metro)
• TriDistrict: Inver Grove Heights, South St. Paul and West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan School Districts (Metro)
• Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton School District (Greater MN)
• Montevideo-Benson (Greater MN)

You can read more about the innovation zones and their programs here.

FAQ on the 2017 Innovation Zone Law

Summary of the 2017 Innovation Zone Law

Interested in Becoming an Innovation Zone?

Education Evolving is happy to help and advise schools and districts applying for innovation zone status, and make connections to other districts applying. If you are interested in learning more please email us at info@educationevolving.org.