Category Archives: Harambee

Perpich-Crosswinds bill heading to the Minnesota House floor

The Perpich-Crosswinds bill is now headed to the floor of the Minnesota House, but it looks a little different than it did a few weeks ago.

Two weeks ago the House Capital Investments Committee took our stand alone bill (HB592) and made it a part of the House bonding omnibus bill (HB270). It was added to the bonding omnibus bill because the office of Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) determined that any changes to the use of Crosswinds would mean a change in the intent of the bonds that had been used to build Crosswinds, and as such these changes needed the approval of three-fifths of the legislature. Since bonding bills require a three-fifths vote and this had become a bond-related question, we are now part of the bonding bill in the House.

This morning the House bonding omnibus passed the House Ways and Means committee and was sent on to the House floor for consideration. Unfortunately, it will probably wait there until all the other budget bills have been considered before it gets a vote. This means that we probably will not know the fate of Crosswinds in the Legislature until the very end of the session.

Another change in the language makes it very likely that even once the Legislature finishes its work, the final decision will return to the EMID Board. New language in HB270 allows the EMID Board to give Crosswinds to either Perpich or District 833 (South Washington County) “for use as an east metropolitan area integration magnet school.” Furthermore, if EMID wants to do anything other than that with Crosswinds, it must sell the school building “for an amount at least equal to” the cost of acquiring the land and building the school. (HB270, Sec. 51.) These provisions make it possible that both Perpich and District 833 will be coming back to the EMID board this summer for a decision.

The bottom line for now is that things are looking very positive for a Perpich takeover of Crosswinds for next school year, but we are far from done with this task. Stay tuned! We will need your voice raised and your concerns shared with your legislators as this matter heads to the House floor. And we will need you to contact your EMID Board members when and if this matter returns to their domain.

P.S. Though far less controversial, we should note that the Roseville-Harambee provision is also now part of the same HB270 bonding bill.

Harambee Plant Sale

Are you desperately looking for signs of spring? Well you’re in luck, because the Harambee Plant Sale is in full swing!

Bring home some beautiful plants while helping Harambee raises money for a new slide to fix the broken one.

www.harambeeplantsale.org

Looking for yet another way to help Harambee? Purchase plants to donate to the summer gardens around the flag and by the school sign. Its a double win!

Order by April 19th and pick up at the school May 1, 2 or 3 from 3p-6p. See the website for how to order or contact any Harambee student!

Thank you for working together with us!

Carrie Dickson

Crosswinds and Harambee pass first test in the Minnesota House

Both HF833 (the Harambee bill) and HF592 (the Perpich-Crosswinds bill) were heard in the House Education Finance Committee this morning. After being introduced by Rep. Fischer, testimony for Harambee included Superintendent John Thein, and parents Will Bryan and Mike Boguszewski. The Harambee bill, which primarily seeks support for the transportation needs Roseville inherits with the school, saw only minimal questioning and was passed unanimously on to the House Capital Investment Committee.

The Perpich-Crosswinds bill encountered significantly choppier water, but emerged successful as well. Rep. Ryan Winkler introduced the bill and a couple of amendments. Sue Mackert presented Perpich’s case for the school, Mary Cecconi filled in some history and institutional memory from her time on the Stillwater school board, Bryan Bass described the school’s academics and achievements. The committee questioned these speakers, primarily Sue Mackert, for an extended period. Much of the concern was about the finances of the bill. Some of the questioning was also aimed at understanding what Perpich gains and possibly loses in taking on Crosswinds. A number of committee members seemed to be trying to understand exactly why this issue was before the legislature, what had gone wrong at EMID to land this on their plate? Rep. Mariani reminded members that the legislature’s own actions sun-setting integration aid laid some of the responsibility at their own feet.

After questioning, a number of EMID Families representatives testified for Crosswinds: parents Eric Celeste, Tami Bayne-Kuczmarski, and Dan Larson all testified briefly, and Sam Larson and Nate Celeste represented Crosswinds students. I say briefly because we were each given no more than two minutes! The family testimony helped convey the emotional impact of this decision to legislators. A few tears were shed.

One Woodbury Elementary parent, Joe Ryan, also testified briefly in favor of Perpich.

Then the opponents to Perpich took the mic. Superintendent Keith Jacobus of South Washington County (ISD833) spoke against the bill saying that it would hurt his district financially to continue to send students to Crosswinds. Most disappointing, though, was the final testimony of the morning: EMID and White Bear Lake board member Lori Swanson testified against Perpich. That the only representative of the EMID board who addressed the legislature was opposing the very action the board took in January was yet another demonstration of the dysfunction of the EMID board.

Nevertheless, Crosswinds and Perpich prevailed. On a voice vote with only a single “nay,” the committee passed the Perpich-Crosswinds bill along to the Government Operations Committee. We expect that the Government Operations Committee could hold a hearing on HF592 as soon as this week. We will keep you informed.

In addition to the spoken testimony offered at the hearing, which as I said was extremely limited, the members of the committee all received packets of written testimony. A thin packet of seven letters in opposition all came from Woodbury. On the other hand, the committee received 33 letters of substance and support from across our districts, from parents and teachers and community members. Some of this testimony can be found on our website. Even just in weight, the overwhelming support was clear. Anyone who took the time to even glance at the substance of the letters would be even more impressed. Thank you to everyone who took the time to write to the committee.

Sam Larson and Nate Celeste testifying to the House Education Finance Committee, 2013-03-12

EMID Board meets Wednesday 2/20

The EMID Board will get an update on the progress of legislation to allow Perpich to take over Crosswinds at its next board meeting, this Wednesday (2/20), 5:30pm at Harambee.

The board packet agenda also includes a discussion of Stillwater withdrawing from the EMID collaborative, an update on Harmabee’s transition to Roseville, and resolutions placing EMID teachers on “unrequested leave of absence” in order to allow them to seek other employment in member districts.

While this board meeting will likely have fewer fireworks than recent meetings, it is important to realize that the board has, as recently as two months ago, changed its agenda dramatically during the meeting itself. Until the Crosswinds situation, in particular, has completely resolved, it is important for as many families as possible to attend board meetings and witness their actions.

We will also use the meeting as a chance to help you write letters to your legislators and letters to the editor to local papers about Crosswinds. So please, do consider joining us for the EMID board meeting on Wednesday.

Press coverage of the transfer of governance

Tony Lonetree wrote for the Star Tribune: Woodbury school is saved, but work still needs to be done.

The board overseeing the integration school heeded parental wishes to save Crosswinds from closure by agreeing Wednesday night to turn the school over to the Perpich Center for Arts Education.

But the Perpich Center now must win legislative approval and funding by April 1 or see the building claimed, instead, by the South Washington County School District, under action taken by the East Metro Integration District (EMID) school board.

Christopher Magen wrote for the Pioneer Press: Harambee and Crosswinds: Transfer of the integration-focused magnet schools OK’d.

Crosswinds families will now turn their attention to the Capitol, where they have a short time to win over lawmakers in order to keep the school open.

“It means will still have a massive amount of work to do,” Zaiman said.

Judy Spooner wrote for the South Washington County Bulletin: South Washington County Schools in line for Crosswinds if Perpich can’t secure state money.

Deciding the future of Crosswinds, valued at $25 million including its property near Tamarack Road and Interstate 494, took a series of votes and amendments.

The final vote, to give the school to the Perpich center if it can secure funding from the Legislature, failed on a 5-5 tie.

After a short break, a second vote to amend the motion with a deadline of April 1, passed 6-4.

If District 833 acquires the school, it will be at no cost if the building is used for education. It was built with state funds.

EMID board votes for Perpich and Roseville plans

The EMID board voted to close Harambee and Crosswinds tonight. EMID will not be running schools next year. They also voted to accept the Roseville proposal to take over Hararmbee. The real question was, what would they do with Crosswinds.

The EMID board tonight voted to give the Perpich Center for Arts Education until April 1 to get the authority and funding it needs to run Crosswinds. If Perpich fails to get that authority and funding by April 1, the building will go to South Washington County.

This makes the legislative task for Perpich enormous. Perpich will have to seek a separate bill and early action by the Minnesota legislature. By forcing this to be an early vote, they have made this a very difficult task. Difficult, but not necessarily impossible.

Step by step.

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Come to the EMID Board Meeting, Wednesday 1/23

This is it. Since August 2011 we have been doing all we can do to see that our schools can keep doing the wonderful work they do. Over two years have gone into saving our schools, and the EMID board meeting tomorrow will decide their fate. Whether or not you have something you want to say to the board, just being present to witness the board action will send a message. Please come to the meeting tomorrow. The EMID board meeting will be at Harambee, Wednesday 1/23, 5:30pm. Childcare will be provided.

The big question of the meeting is whether the EMID board will allow Crosswinds a chance of holding together its program as part of the Perpich Center for Arts Education.

If you do want to testify, the public forum will begin at 5:30pm. Some of us will gather early, starting at 4:30pm, to share ideas and feedback on our planned testimony. Feel free to come early if you would like to get feedback yourself.

We are expecting that there may be media at the meeting tomorrow. The Pioneer Press, Star Tribune, and Bulletin have all been covering the story. Meanwhile integration has also been in the news, putting our board’s action even more in the public eye.

If EMID does allow the Perpich proposal to move forward, then our attention turns to the Minnesota Legislature. Stay tuned!

EMID Board Discusses Perpich Option

Tonight the EMID Board spent most of it’s discussion time talking about the option to have the Perpich Center for Arts Education take over governance of Crosswinds. The board also heard briefly from the two other interested entities: South Washington County Schools (ISD 833) and Northeast Metro (ISD 916).

Once again, Perpich was the only one of the three enthusiastically embracing the July 2013 deadline originally proposed by the board. Perpich wants to take over Crosswinds starting next school year, keeping most of the program and staff intact. 916 said that they would certainly not continue the current Crosswinds program and would also not be ready to move into the building this fall. South Washington still prefers to have more planning time, but said that the would “do our darndest” to open the building in the fall if they were given clear indication that it was theirs by April 1st.

The board spent quite a bit of time interviewing Perpich Executive Director Sue Mackert about Perpich’s intentions and the legislative process Perpich must go through to acquire the authority and funding it needs to proceed. Mackert said that Perpich had already made appointments with various state agencies and was ready to contact legislators on January 24 if the EMID board decides to give Perpich that chance next Wednesday.

Superintendent Mohr described an option to give Perpich the first go at governance of Crosswinds while also giving South Washington an option to govern should Perpich not get legislative support. This would mean that the EMID board would not have to vote again to transfer governance to South Washington if Perpich runs into a road block at the Capitol.

However, some board members were hesitant about the risks involved in that plan. They noted that the legislative process might scuttle the Perpich proposal as late as May or June, well after South Washington’s April 1st deadline for planning anything for the 2013/2014 school year. This might leave EMID in the position of owning the Crosswinds building without any program to put in it since the school would already be closed. Mackert pointed out that she would probably get some early indications of such a failure at the legislature and would be very open about sharing the state of affairs with EMID and South Washington. She thought Perpich should have a pretty good read on the legislative progress by the end of March.

The board will move this matter to a vote at next week’s EMID board meeting, Wednesday 1/23, 5:30pm at Harambee. The public forum at the start of that meeting will be the last chance to be heard on this matter, so please come to the meeting and share what you have to say with the board.

We have video of key portions of this meeting (just click on “next” to see more videos below).

We also audio recorded this evening’s meeting, available as this MP3 file. Highlights include:

00:18:00 Jim Gelbmann asks what would happen to Crosswinds if the board conveys the building to Perpich and Perpich fails to get authority and funding.
00:42:45 to 01:05:00 an extended Q&A with Sue Mackert of Perpich.
01:54:00 to 01:10:15 a brief set of questions for the 916 representative.
01:10:30 to 01:13:30 a brief exchange with the 833 representative.
01:15:00 a discussion of the risks of the Perpich proposal.

Testimony at Harambee

Harambee’s meeting last night was a much more intimate affair than the Crosswinds meeting. Though many teachers were in the audience, none testified. The only testimony was from three parents: Mike Boguszewski, Eric Celeste, and Carrie Dickson. Both the Roseville Superintendent and the new chair of the Roseville school board attended to listen. There were also fewer EMID board members present, including the chair, who had another school-related obligation.

Testimony of Eric Celeste

The board’s justification for closing Harambee boils down to “we have to close Harambee because we refuse to fund Harambee.” This board made the choice to remove both levy funding and the integration funding that replaced it from the school budget. This board failed to develop a sustainable model for financing the school as an alternative to those funds. It is not a funding crisis that is closing this school, and the best evidence of that is the proposal Roseville has put on the table to keep the school open. There is nothing that Roseville will do to fund this school that EMID could not do will a little political fortitude. I am very disappointed in this course of action.

As you know from last night, I nevertheless support EMID withdrawing governance from Harambee and Crosswinds at the end of this school year. I especially appreciate the proposal Roseville has made to take over governance of this wonderful school with its program and teaching staff intact. My 10th grader started here in kindergarten, I love this school and the work its staff do every day for our kids. I am very happy that Roseville saw the jewel in its backyard and will carry on this legacy.

But tonight I did want to say a word about integration. EMID is about integration after all, and our diversity is, as it says on the mission banner hanging in the hallway outside, valued and celebrated.

I fear that with this decision to withdraw governance from this school, integration will become a bit less central to its mission. This will be a loss, and it is a loss both here and at Crosswinds. These schools understand that integration is about more than academics, it is about the respect and friendship that our students form with each other, the understanding of various cultures they gain, and the incredible culture of this school that they build together.

My hope is that Roseville take this aspect of Harambee’s legacy seriously and carry it into the future as well. I see Superintendent Tine and Board Chair Langston here tonight, I am encourage by the attention they have paid to this process, and I hope they will find ways to take advantage of the remarkable diversity of Roseville to keep Harambee as diverse as possible.

As for the EMID member districts, I just want to remind you that a significant portion of the integration dollars you will still receive for being part of this collaborative are designated for expenditure directly on students. Ever since you removed integration dollars from our schools a year ago, this direct student spending does not happen here.

These expenditures are vital to real integration in our schools, and I and others will work hard to hold you accountable for these funds. Please, use your integration funds well, make sure they are spent on students.

Thank you.

Testimony of Carrie Dickson

Shalom. Aloha. Salaam. Annyonghi-kaseyo.

I am the mother of 3 young boys who are 6, 4, and 2. My oldest is in 1st grade. Finding Harambee school, around this time 2 years ago, was a godsend born from a lot of difficult detective work. One of the many reasons we were interested in the school was integration, and the way integration works at Harambee. Students aren’t just close to each other. They are woven together as a community. Because of this, and many other reasons, I was fighting for this school before my son ever stepped foot in his Kindergarten class.

While I stand here today understanding that the relationship between Harambee and EMID must come to an end, I still don’t understand why we came to this point. I don’t understand why this board chose to fund this school differently then the rest of your schools, therefore causing it to be financially unsustainable. I don’t understand why only 1 of the 10 districts represented here lists Harambee and Crosswinds as schools that are options for their families. Why wouldn’t you tell people we were here? I can only shake my head in bewilderment.

I am grateful to Roseville who has seen the value of Harambee programming and intends to make it one of their own. I stand here before you and say, with much trepidation, that I support the transfer of governance to Roseville School District. My anxiety, sadly, comes from a significant lack of trust that comes from fighting for your son’s school since before he ever started there.

I also realize that we are now in a transition. As both a midwife and a teacher I know that transitions are difficult; I’ve spent my entire professional life helping people through them. And from both of those roles I know that one of the most important steps in any transition is a letting go. Only by letting go of our previous role will we be able to see the beauty and possibilities of our new one. So I look towards the future for Harambee with hope.

For the remaining 9 districts, you all face a transition as well. You now face the prospect of maintaining an integration district without integration schools. Integration, as you know, is still the law of the land. Whatever the state legislature decides about funding does not change that. I encourage you to look back at your own district schools. Do you have racially identifiable schools? I bet you do. Do we still have a long ways to go with integration? Oh yes we do. In the important fight for achievement and equity, please do not lose sight of integration. You cannot properly have equity without integration. I encourage you to reflect on the successes of Harambee and Crosswinds, and find ways to bring that kind of intentional integration to your school districts.

I’m going to digress for a moment and say something specific to Crosswinds that was not said last night. While it may seem that the support for the Perpich option is born out of a desperate desire to keep their beloved school as is, what I’m not sure you know is that parents, myself included, have been talking with Perpich Center since these schools faced closure last year… atleast 16 months now. We have come, through these conversations and investigation, to know that Perpich is the perfect option for Crosswinds. Its not just desperation. Its right. We have also come to believe two very important things: that Perpich can pull this off, and that they will do right by the students and teachers at Crosswinds.

Please know that teachers have not been a part of these conversations. They have not had the benefits of time and reflection that we have. Understandably, they need more information and time to come to believe what we do about the Perpich Center. I know that they will have that opportunity.

As we part ways, Harambee & Crosswinds from EMID, I will end with the four words I began with. These words, in Hebrew, Hawaiian, Arabic and Korean mean goodbye. But they also, perhaps more importantly, mean peace. May you continue the ever important work of supporting education for the future of the East Metro. May you continue with a vision of integration for all of our children. Shalom. Aloha. Salaam. Annyonghi-kaseyo.

EMID school closure hearings Wednesday and Thursday

The EMID Board hearing on closing Crosswinds will be this Wednesday at 6:30pm at Crosswinds. The hearing on closing Harambee will be this Thursday at 6:30pm at Harambee. The public is welcome to testify at either or both hearings. Some folks who wish to share the themes of their testimony and get feedback ahead of the hearings will be gathering at 5:30pm at each location, so feel free to show up early if you wish.

You may also wish to write down and share your testimony with the board (their addresses are available on the EMID Families website) or other families (just send a copy to info@emidfamilies.org).

According to board chair George Hoeppner, both hearings will follow a similar format. Superintendent Janet Mohr and Finance Officer Shari Thompson will present information related to the reason we are at the current point. After their initial comments,
there will be opportunity for public testimony.

Public testimony will follow the structure of the open forum at a board meetings. There will be a five minute limit for each speaker.

Mohr and Thompson will then speak a second time.

The board will not have discussion either of these evenings.

If board members can find an evening to meet before their January 23 board meeting, they will try to refine the criteria for selection and discuss options. That date will be made public if it can be found.

Decisions will be made at the EMID Board meeting on January 23, 5:30pm, at Harambee.