Toolkit Helps Minnesota Schools Comply With Health Equity Law

(Adobe Stock via Minnesota News Connection)

(By Mike Moen. Minnesota News Connection) – With classes soon underway, Minnesota school districts are working through a relatively new law requiring free menstrual products in public school restrooms and for administrators in need of answers, a new toolkit has surfaced.

In 2023, the Legislature approved the high-profile law, joining more than 25 other states with similar policies. This month, a pair of University of Minnesota public health students, passionate about menstrual health equity, published a 62-page online tool with key details about implementation.

Mary Kenny, a student in the public health masters program at the University of Minnesota and the toolkit’s co-author, said the law is unique and allows for local control.

“Every district can choose to bring certain things to the table,” Kenny explained. “Schools know their own context and communities best. However, it left some questions unanswered, such as whose responsibility is it to order the products, stock the products, educate the students?”