Author Archives: Eric Celeste

Governor’s Task Force on the Prevention of School Bullying

The Governor is seeking eight people with backgrounds & expertise in health professions, pediatrics, psychology or psychiatry, with expertise or special knowledge of legal policy, or with experience as advocates for students who have been subjected to bullying and with teaching or school administration careers. These eight will be part of a fifteen member task for on the prevention of school bullying.

The task force will examine the state of bullying in Minnesota and to advise the Governor’s Office and Legislature on policies to ensure the safety of all students in Minnesota.

Application forms may be found on the web or may be obtained from the Office of the Secretary of State, Open Appointments, 180 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155-1299, or in person at Room 180 of the State Office Building.

EMID Board considers “Phase 2” planning process

By the time the EMID Board met on 11/16 Interim Superintendent Robicheau had come up with a proposal that completely superseded the one presented in the board packet last month. The board is now considering an “EMID Planning Process, Phase II” that looks like this:

EMIDPlanningProcessPhase2

At the board meeting Robicheau said he intended to include parents on the “Leadership Team.” When asked for details of how families could get involved in this process and become part of the Leadership Team, Robicheau responded:

This process has been facilitated with the help of a couple of board members who have used this in their districts. We are assembling a core group, 6 people, board member, superintendent, staff and Melissa Krull, to develop a Guiding Decision Document. This is an outline of how the process will work and identifies some of the givens and the unacceptables. This work will be done December 7. It will go to the school board December 21. Included in this is the structure and make up of a Design Team. This Design Team will be responsible to seek stakeholder input before anything is developed. Once they seek stakeholder input they will consider some options that are grounded in the input. These options will then be brought back to the stakeholders for input/reaction. Once that is completed a refined option will be developed and that again will be brought to the stakeholders for input. It will then be brought to board for consideration. The goal is to have a recommendation to the board in May.

At our December 7th meeting we will work on the structure and makeup of the Design Team. I anticipate we will look to engage parent and staff representation on the Design team.

Please consider whether you’d be interested in a role on the Design Team and be prepared to let Dr. Robicheau know of your interest or ideas when the time comes.

Integration Task Force Meeting: 29 November 2011

These PDF notes of the 11/29 meeting are not official minutes, these are very biased and raw notes. Don’t expect fairness, balance, or completeness! I am just trying to be quick at communicating what is happening on the task force. Initials generally refer to task force members, a list of whom can be found at the official task for website.

During this meeting the task force took testimony from Tom Gillaspy, State Demographer, and Tom Melcher, MDE Finance Officer.

More about the task force on our Integration Revenue Replacement Advisory Task Force page.

Integration Task Force Meeting: 15 November 2011

NOTE: These are not official minutes, these are very biased and raw notes. Don’t expect fairness, balance, or completeness! I am just trying to be quick at communicating what is happening on the task force. Initials generally refer to task force members, a list of whom can be found at the official task for website. …Eric

MDE will not be as involved in this task force as in many other committees and task forces. This TF is much more independent. It is a public TF and we can expect that packets and information prepared for the TF will be available on the web.

How to best allocate funds previously allocated per MS 124D.86
$40M for 2014 and $68M for 2015
This statute is now repealed for FY2014

124D.855 newly enacted to outlaw school segregation… Does not condone separating students based on demographic, ethnic, or racial criteria.

Achievement gap purpose was first put in law in 2009 and effective for the 2009/10 school year. Only in its second year.

Green asks for clarification about repurpose. Brenda says that the special session provided urgency to the conversation by sunsetting the provision. Dollars are still there for 2014-15, but what will we do with them after that?

Kirsten, this is a wonderful opportunity to be innovative and creative. She sees repurposing = replacement. Mariani, would not support using a different word and thinks that repurposing offers a lot of room for creativity.

Orfield, points out that Judge Larson never found our districts “unitary” and there may still be an ongoing obligation that would be important to understand.

Anne Parks… Rule has the force of law, but is trumped by statute. Rule will stand even after revenue statute dies. No action to remove rule.

www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us School District Integration Revenue report
Judy Randall presented

Seems odd that this whole meeting is about integration aid, rather than thinking beyond integration. Orfield pointing to Justice Kennedy and Title Six ruling for guidance.

Battle nominates Peter as chair. Ericsson nominates Thomas. TF decides not to nominate the legislators. TF adopts unanimously.

Note that integration transportation aid was not amended by the legislature and is not on the cutting block at this time.

Tuesday’s from 1:30-4pm in CCA Room 13: 11/15, 11:29, 12/13, 12/20, 1/10, 1/17, 2/7. Maybe hold final meeting at statehouse.

END OF NOTES, more about the task force on our Integration Revenue Replacement Advisory Task Force page.

EMID Board to consider planning timeline

The EMID School Board will meet on Wednesday (11/16) to consider a strategic planning timeline proposed by Jerry Robicheau. The board meeting begins with an open forum at 5:30pm at the Harambee Elementary School.

Robicheau proposes (PDF) that the EMID Board hire Dr. Melissa Krull (recently the superintendent in Eden Prarie who suffered setbacks after shifting the boundaries to improve integration there) as a consultant to help EMID conduct a “Strengths, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threats (SWOT) analysis” and create a work group to build a “road map” for the district. The board will discuss and probably approve the process at its meeting Wednesday.

Also on the agenda will be Dr. Robicheau’s report, including a review of the members appointed to the new Integration Revenue Task Force. The board will also have a rare “closed meeting to discuss negotiations with employee groups” toward the end of the meeting.

The agenda (PDF), and full board packet for the November meeting is available at EMID.

The board meeting is (mostly) open to the public and anyone can share input with the board during the open forum at the start of the meeting.

Pioneer Press: Harambee, Crosswinds magnet schools won’t close

The Pioneer Press ran a story by Megan Boldt about last night’s EMID board vote:

Two east metro magnet schools that opened to address racial segregation will stay open – at least for the next few years.

…

Robert Roston, 24, a former Crosswinds student, was among more than 100 people who came out for the vote. Roston said he and his sister were the only nonwhite kids in their Maplewood neighborhood and his time at Crosswinds – being around other students who looked like him – helped him blossom.

Roston graduated from North High School in North St. Paul and is now an EMT volunteer with the American Red Cross.

“You keep hearing people talk about producing productive members of society. I’m proof,” said Roston. “Thanks for giving other children like me the opportunity.”

Star Tribune: Board opts to keep integration schools open around the metro

The Star Tribune published a story by Daarel Burnette that described tonight’s board meeting:

Wednesday’s vote, taken unexpectedly before parents were allowed to speak, allows the two schools to stay open indefinitely, thanks to a compromise plan offered by several superintendents, who proposed the board keep the schools open but reduce the districts’ contributions by up to 43 percent.

…

With the cut in funding the board will have to cut several programs over the next several months, board members said.

“We need to realize things aren’t going to look the same next year,” said board member Lori Swanson.

That didn’t dissuade parents.

“The energy you see here tonight is not going to go away and leave you holding the bag,” parent Michael Boguszewski told board members. “We’ll help in any way we can to reach that long-term sustainability. Let’s keep pulling together for this common cause.”

EMID Board Votes to Keep Crosswinds and Harambee Open!

The EMID board rearranged its agenda this evening and voted to keep Harambee and Crosswinds open even before they allowed any public testimony. Of course, being who we are, the community testified anyway, but most testimony included sincere thanks to the board for letting our schools remain as an option for all the kinds in their districts. Thanks for all the hard work on the part of EMID families for making this happen!

Of course, this is only the beginning. Now the board, administration, and all of us have to figure out how to live under a new and much more restricted budget. A lot of work remains ahead, but for this evening at least, we can all celebrate what our joint action has accomplished: the thread of imminent closure has been lifted.

MPR: Fate of EMID’s schools to be decided tonight

Tom Weber filed a story with Minnesota Public Radio this morning: “Fate of East Metro Integration District’s schools to be decided tonight.” Indeed, that is so! We hope you can join us at the board meeting this evening, Wednesday 10/19, 5:30pm at Crosswinds.

Board members face two choices Wednesday night: close its schools in Woodbury and Maplewood, or keep them open under a new financial arrangement in which member districts send less of their state integration funding to EMID.

Roseville School Board Member Gogins a Likely Vote for “Option Two”

A report from tonight’s Roseville school board meeting suggests that Kitty Gogins, Roseville board member and their representative on the EMID board, will support “option two” to keep the EMID schools open at tomorrow’s EMID board meeting. She noted that a vote for “option two” does not “kick the can down the road” and that Roseville superintendent Thein wants to maintain the two schools as labs for innovation. Roseville’s school board chair and other members supported this direction.

Remember, the EMID board meeting is tomorrow, Wednesday 10/19, at 5:30pm at Crosswinds School. Come and show your support for keeping our schools open!