After two years of living with COVID, the pandemic has forced some of Minnesota’s youngest and oldest learners with Down syndrome to miss out on in-person education and programs vital to their progress — time that often can’t be recaptured.
In Minnesota, school districts provide transition programming for high school graduates enrolled in special education who need additional support with things like independent living skills and job seeking. But that opportunity ends at age 21.
Minnesota legislation passed in 2021 requires public schools to assess whether students with individualized education programs have regressed or lost learning opportunities during the pandemic. They must determine appropriate services to help compensate for lost learning, and deliver them regardless of staff shortages or school closures.
Read more from Minnesota Public Radio.
