1. Seizure-Safe Schools¶
Status: active since 2026. Flagship initiative.
The gap¶
Minnesota law (Minn. Stat. 121A.24) has required every public and charter school to have a seizure action plan and trained staff since the 2022-23 school year. Nobody checks. We reviewed the public websites of 328 of the state's 329 regular school districts. 231 of them, about 70 percent, post no seizure-specific plan a family or a substitute teacher could find. The gap tracks district size: small districts, most of them rural, lack the nurse and the administrative time to publish one. About half of Minnesota districts have no licensed school nurse at all.
The full analysis, with interactive charts, is in The Data: Mapping the Gaps. Look up any district in Find Your District.
What we are doing this year¶
- Contacting every no-plan district, in order of need, with a free drop-in packet: a seizure action plan template in four languages, board policy language, a first-aid poster.
- Asking each district one question once staff are back: do you now have a plan on file for each student with a seizure disorder and a trained adult at each school? A yes, with a count, is how we measure this initiative.
- Asking the Minnesota School Boards Association to cite 121A.24 in its model medication policy, the one most small districts adopt word for word. Today it does not.
- Adding a language layer: 25 no-plan districts have ten percent or more English learners, about 15,000 students. They get the Spanish, Hmong, and Somali templates first.
- Re-auditing all 328 districts in spring 2027 and publishing the before-and-after map.
Explore: which no-plan districts need translated plans first¶
Hover a bar for the county and the number of English learners. These 25 districts, all without a findable seizure plan, get the Spanish, Hmong, and Somali templates first.
More interactive tools for this initiative: Find Your District, the Seizure First Aid Simulator, and the Call 911? Decision Trainer.
Numbers so far¶
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Districts audited | 328 of 329 |
| Districts with a findable seizure plan | 97 (29.6%) |
| Districts contacted directly | 41 (July 2026), all others in progress |
| Reliability of the audit (blind re-check of 30 districts) | 90% agreement, kappa 0.82 |
Check yourself¶
1. What share of Minnesota districts post a findable seizure plan?
About 30 percent (97 of 328). About 70 percent post none, most of them only a general medication policy that never mentions seizures.
2. What predicts whether a district posts a plan: being rural, or being small?
Being small. Once enrollment is in the model, rurality is no longer significant. The gap is a capacity problem, which is why small districts need the work done for them.
3. Does 'no plan found online' mean a district is breaking the law?
No. We measure public findability, not compliance. A district may have an internal plan. That is why we ask each district directly before counting anything.
For schools¶
The free packet is at For Schools: In Practice. A school that adopts a plan can earn the Seizure-Smart Classroom badge. Tell us when you post a plan and we will update the map.