The testimony tonight at Crosswinds was extraordinary. 36 students, parents, and teachers testified to the EMID Board and every single one called on the EMID board to withdraw governance from the school. Nearly every testimony also indicated strong support for a transition of governance to the Perpich Center for Arts Education. The testimony was beautiful, powerful, and heartfelt; it was also being recorded and we will try to share it as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, an important announcement was made at the hearing: representatives from the Perpich Center will be at Crosswinds next Monday evening, 1/14 at 6:30pm to talk with families and answer questions about their proposal. (They will be available to teachers that same morning.) Given how much support there was for a transition to Perpich governance of Crosswinds, this will be a great opportunity to both learn what Crosswinds under Perpich may be like and how we can help bring this future to reality.
A special meeting of the EMID Board to discuss the options before them will also take place on Wednesday evening, January 16, at Harambee. The decision-making meeting of the board remains on Wednesday January 23 at 5:30pm at Harambee.
So, upcoming meetings include:
- the Harambee “closure” hearing tomorrow, Thursday January 10, 6:30pm at Harambee
- the Perpich Q&A session for families Monday January 14, 6:30pm at Crosswinds
- a special EMID Board meeting on Wednesday January 16, 6pm at Harambee
- the next regular EMID Board meeting, at which they intend to vote on the fate of the schools, on Wednesday January 23, 5:30pm at Harambee
Thank you SO much to everyone that gave testimony and to those who simply came to support us or observe. The message could not have been more clear to the Board. Each families has its only perspective and meaningful story, and sharing them with us is truly an honor.
Peace.
My testimony at the Crosswinds hearing:
I would like to point out that we have a wonderful chance to give Atticus Finch a win/win here today. We can both allow EMID to move on and withdraw governance and allow Crosswinds to grow and thrive.
The board claims declining enrollment as basis for closure.
However, enrollment declined after a new superintendent and this board began to consider cutting Crosswinds back to K8 after a parent/admin proposal for K12. Doubt sown about future of 9/10. Then the following year board announced the intent to close the schools outright. Further doubt was sown about the future. Finally, even after announcing it would leave the schools open and seek sustainable funding, the board instead refused to provide any levy funding for the school and did not seek any other sustainable model.
Declining enrollment is not a reason for closing Crosswinds, in reality declining enrollment is the result of years of threats of severe changes and closure. We scared people away and did not even let our own communities know Crosswinds existed. The school was only listed on one of our district websites last year. Inadequate funding is a problem this board created for itself by not seeking sustainability.
While I contest your rational for withdrawing from Crosswinds, I do not oppose the action. I think this board has demonstrated that it has no interest in building on the success of this school, new management is needed and EMID should withdraw governance in order to transition to new management.
Luckily, there is now a strong expression of interest from an organization that recognizes the value of Crosswinds and is intent not to allow our marvelous school to be discarded. The Perpich Center for Arts Education is a match made in heaven for Crosswinds. The facility, the teaching, the families, and the students are all a fantastic match. Perpich intends to keep the program of Crosswinds, year round education, arts and science magnet and IB programs, and a diverse student body intact. Perpich values our strengths. Perpich wants to take over Crosswinds at the end of this school year because it respects the timeline you set forth earlier this year. And Perpich knows that the program offered here is exciting enough to fill this magnificent building with activity. When this board asked Perpich representatives last month how they would increase enrollment, Perpich gave the response we have been begging you for: “We will tell people it is here,” they responded. They will market Crosswinds to parents and students like those in this room tonight.
Luckily this is a both/and, win/win situation. You can and should take the action you are contemplating at this hearing: withdraw EMID governance from Crosswinds at the end of this school year. Give teachers the right to pursue positions in the member districts as a result as Tim Stepan and the union request. But at the same time we ask that you do everything in your power to facilitate a smooth transition to Perpich management. This way, everybody can win.
Perpich plans to continue program, as I explained earlier. Perpich also plans to offer positions at same level of seniority to Crosswinds teachers. Of course, Perpich requires a legislative process to succeed. And transportation will still be a significant hurdle.
Should Perpich succeed to get the authority and funding it requires from the legislature to take over Crosswinds, we will know that by the end of the legislative session in May or June. If Perpich should fail, the other two proposals, 916 and 833, neither of which would carry on the program of Crosswinds as we know it, could at least take over the empty building for other purposes.
But let us work together for a future of this school. We let go of our EMID chapter with sadness for the loss of focus on integration, but with excitement about building an extraordinary model for the whole state.
Thank you.
My testimony at Crosswinds:
EMID Board, Superintendent Mohr, Crosswinds community,
Parents, students and teachers fought to keep our schools open under EMID. We now know this was not an ideal situation since some member districts do not value the schools or their programs enough to embrace or use them. We now know that closing the schools, meaning separating from EMID, is necessary if the schools’ programs are to survive under new and supportive leadership that will use and share what these schools have built.
Why should Crosswinds continue to exist? What does it offer that our students can’t get in another middle school? All students should experience the challenge and wonder of science but, more importantly, see how it relates to their lives and their world. Our IB program makes this connection. Not all students are interested in being an athlete or attending sporting events. Some clearly prefer music, visual arts, or drama. The arts offered here have made connections between students and their education that have inspired them, helped them find their place in the community, and sometimes been the difference between success and school failure. Plenty of students value learning communication skills, critical thinking skills, expressing their opinion, and becoming a responsible citizen more than fitting in with the crowd. Respectfully working alongside different opinions, cultures, and abilities SHOULD be modeled and taught in any school, especially as students learn to navigate an increasingly global economy and see the result of the political deadlock paralyzing our nation.
Nowhere have I seen this done more successfully than in the EMID schools due to the consistent, intentional message that differences are good, that all students have gifts, and that working together for a common purpose using everyone’s gifts is vital to the success of a community. These opportunities and values may be lost if Crosswinds is simply allowed to die. These students, whose needs may not be met in a traditional school environment, are those who will be harmed by the loss of this school. These students deserve to reach their full potential along with “the other 115,000”.
Crosswinds and Harambee could have been used as a model to help other districts solve problems of conflict and acceptance as they move from simply trying to achieve test score equity among students toward achieving actual integration of students. Roseville has committed to keeping the programs at Harambee alive for its students. Only one proposal will continue the spirit and opportunities offered at Crosswinds and share them, as they were always meant to be shared, with students all over the state of Minnesota; the one offered by Perpich Center for the Arts.
We know that the Perpich proposal faces many hurdles and is likely a long shot at best, but please give them the opportunity to try. I want my fourth grade son to attend a middle school where he is accepted as he is, to find and develop his unique gifts, and become a productive, independent citizen. The work done over many years at Crosswinds does not deserve to be simply abandoned. Other proposals will leave this building empty next year.
What a waste of something beautiful created by this community of teachers, students and families.
Respectfully,
Laurel LeBlanc
Harambee and Crosswinds community member
My Testimony at Crosswinds, January 9, 2013
Chairman Hoeppner, Board Members, Superintendent Mohr, EMID Staff, Students, Alumni, Parents, and Friends, Members of the Press:
I’m not certain that words can adequately express my feelings about the necessity of the Hearing that is now taking place. I address you now with a mix of profound sadness, extreme frustration, outright anger and the excitement of new hope. How did we arrive here?
On my daughter’s first day of school at Harambee, I waited with other parents picking up their children. I saw her round the corner and come down the hallway. She had an enormous smile on her face and she was holding the hand of a girl wearing a hijab. She was thrilled to tell me about her new friend. At that moment, it was confirmed that our family’s selection of Harambee was the right one.
In our post 9/11 world, there is so much fear and anxiety about people that are “different” from us. It has always been my belief that first-hand experience and knowledge are what lead to understanding and compassion for others. Here were these two young girls, Christian and Muslim, Native American and Somali. Grinning and giggling. None of that mattered to them. They were just two people who were new friends. It was beautiful.
Amazing things happen every day in these learning communities. All of it is done with great intention and a focus on preparing students to be global citizens.
EMID’s Mission: EMID’s mission is to provide and promote integrated opportunities for students, families, and staff that expand cultural understanding and support academic achievement.
EMID Vision: EMID’s vision is to create integrated communities in which all learners have knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for success in an increasing diverse and interdependent world.
This is not just about my daughter and her classmates. It is about the on-going vision and mission of EMID schools. I feel EMID is of immeasurable value to the current and future community-at-large and that it is essential that Harambee and Crosswinds continue.
Please, let me be absolutely clear:
It is time for EMID to withdraw from governance of Harambee Community Cultures and Environmental Science School and Crosswinds East Metro Arts and Science School.
I implore you to relinquish governance of Harambee to Roseville district 623 and the governance of Crosswinds to the Perpich Center for Arts Education. Both of these entities have very clearly expressed their intent to continue the vision and mission with which these schools were formed.
Peace,
Kim Zaiman
Parent of Elizabeth, Harambee Alum and current Crosswinds 7th grader