COVID-19: Resources for Parents and Students

For Parents

  • Stay informed on the virus’s spread and any federal or state mandates with updates from my information hub and the Minnesota Department of Health. 

  • Learn how to communicate with your children on the virus with this guide from the National Association of School Psychologists. 

  • Get up-to-date information on school closures from the Minnesota Department of Education here. 

  • If you need help accessing child care resources, contact 1-888-291-9811 or go to www.parentaware.org. 

  • Families relying on school lunches as one of their daily meals can access a location-based directory of food banks here. 

Child Care

The CARES Act provides

  • $8.8 billion child nutrition

  • $3.5 billion for the Care and Development Block Grant

  • $750 million for Head Start, exempting payments from the base grant in subsequent fiscal years, and allows up to $500 million for operating supplemental summer programs through non-competitive grant supplements to existing grantees.

  • The CARES Act creates a $30 billion Education Stabilization Fund for states with three separate funding streams:

    • Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund
      • The Governor’s fund, which will receive $3 billion, may be used to support services to students including the provision of childcare and early education.

  • Higher Education

    • The Higher Education fund ($14.25 billion) may be used to defray costs to students and institutes of higher education, including childcare.

  • K-12: $13.2 billion for K-12 schools.

    • This amount will be distributed to states which will then pass it along to school districts. Each state’s allocation will be based on its share of funding under Title I, the federal government’s primary funding program for high-poverty schools.

Additional Resources:

Information for Families: Responding to COVID-19 - Child Care for Critical Sectors
Map of Childcare Providers for Emergency Workers
Minnesota Distance Teaching and Learning Implementation Guidance
Afterschool Options in the CARES Act

For Students

  • Make sure that children know the basics of personal hygiene with this video from the CDC.

  • Download distance learning resources from the Smithsonian Learning Lab, like lessons in science for all ages from Smithsonian Science How and history from the Museum of American History’s History Explorer. 

  • Turn on a kid-appropriate podcast, like Brains On! from American Public Media or But Why from Vermont Public Radio. 

  • Access the art from home with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra’s online concert library and take a virtual tour of the Minneapolis Institute of Art. 

  • The Library of Congress has compiled Digital Resources for Students here. 
  • The Smithsonian Institution compiled Digital Resources for Students here. 

Education

Student Loan Borrowers

  • All loans owned by the Department of Education will be covered under the CARES Act, including having interest waived and payment suspended.

  • Eligible loans include Direct Loans, Federal Perkins Loans, and Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans held by the Department of Education.

  • Private student loans are not eligible for protection, but you can contact your private student loan servicer to see if they, in their discretion, will provide some payment or interest relief.

  • Federal work-study: Eligible students would receive payments from their school for a designated period when they are unable to fulfill their work-study obligation due to a national emergency. Schools would have the choice to pay students with a one-time grant or in multiple payments.

  • Temporary student loan relief: All loan and interest payments would be deferred through Sept. 30 without penalty to the borrower for all federally owned student loans.

  • Students who drop out of school as a result of the coronavirus wouldn't have that time away from school deducted from their lifetime limits on subsidized loan and Pell Grant eligibility. Those students would also not be asked to pay back any grants or other aid they've already received.

  • Federal student loan payments, which are suspended through September 2020, are treated on credit reports as if the payments are made. Therefore, if you are unable to make payments on your federal student loan, non-payments through September 2020 will not negatively impact your credit report and score.

Additional Resources:

Minnesota Department of Education COVID-19 Updates
Schools and Child Care: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Funding, Services, and Programming