South Washington County Considers Crosswinds, 11/20

The South Washington County School Board will consider a proposal to take over the Crosswinds School at their board meeting tomorrow, Tuesday 11/20, 7pm, at the District Service Center in Cottage Grove. The agenda for their meeting shows that item 6.6. will be “Approval of Interest/Proposal for Crosswinds School” presented by Superintendent Keith Jacobus.

Their meeting allows visitors to address the board near the beginning of the meeting. It is important that the board hear how much we value the diverse and respectful environment that has been built at Crosswinds over the past decade and more. You can be part of educating the board about what Crosswinds has to offer and how South Washington County could benefit from not just taking over the building, but from keeping much of the program intact. An arts and science magnet focus with an IB middle years program (that can feed their current 11/12 IB at Park High School) and a year-round schedule could make Crosswinds a jewel for South Washington County. Will they keep this and our truly integrated environment alive, or will they transform Crosswinds into just another middle school? EMID families can have a part in the answer.

So if you can be there, please come to the South Washington County board meeting tomorrow and help spread the word of the benefits that can come to the system if they acquire more than just a building from EMID.

Also, don’t forget that our own EMID Board meeting will be coming up next week. Here are upcoming meetings to be aware of:

Tuesday, 11/20, 7pm, South Washington County School Board, District Service Center, Cottage Grove. A proposal for Crosswinds is item 6.6 on the agenda.
Wednesday, 11/28, 5:30pm, EMID Board at Harambee. No details yet, but the board packet should be here by the week before the meeting.
Thursday 12/6, 6pm, South Washington County School Board, District Service Center, Cottage Grove. There is no agenda yet, but the agenda should be here closer to the meeting date.
Tuesday, 12/18, 6:30pm, Roseville School Board, District Center located at 1251 County Road B2 West. There is no agenda yet, but the agenda should be available soon from the sidebar on this page.
Thursday 12/20, 7pm, South Washington County School Board, District Service Center, Cottage Grove. There is no agenda yet, but the agenda should be here closer to the meeting date.

Remember, too, that you are always welcome to write EMID board members or EMID superintendents with any questions you may have.

Give to the Max TODAY for Crosswinds and Harambee!

The fourth annual “Give to the Max Day” is a day for Minnesotans to come together to raise as much money as possible for nonprofits in 24 hours, all day long on Thursday, November 15, 2012. This is a great and easy way to show your support for our schools.

Help Harambee Win $1000

What if you could help Harambee School win $1000 just by giving 10 bucks? Give to the Max Day is today, so you can.

Donating is easy, just click here for Harambee! Your contribution will support school-wide initiatives, family events, field trips, and other educational opportunities. You can use this quick link for donating: http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Harambee-Elementary

Last year we raised $1780 on Give to the Max Day. Of the total, $665 was directed to the fifth grade class trip to Audubon. With your support, we were able to fully fund the cost of six students to participate in this amazing experience. We were also able to provide field trip buses for two entire grade levels!

Joe’s Sporting Goods, our very generous neighbor, has offered Harambee a two to one challenge grant for Give to the Max Day. If we can raise $2000 for Harambee, Joe’s Sporting Goods will match with $4000! What an amazing offer. Don’t let this opportunity pass us by.

Give to Crosswinds Too!

Donating to Crosswinds is just as easy on Give to the Max Day, just click here for Crosswinds! Or use this link: http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Crosswinds-Arts-And-Science-School

Help support the orchestra, theater, field trips, intersession, and many other activities of Crosswinds!

What is GiveMN?

GiveMN.org is the smart way for you to discover, support and engage with the charities that are right for you. The online giving platform allows you to easily find organizations that match your giving goals, support them through secure credit or debit card donations, receive automated tax deductible receipts through email, and conveniently track and record your donations in a single online location.

As you consider your charitable end-of-year giving, please consider participating in Give to the Max Day today. GiveMN is easy to use, and your gift to Harambee and/or Crosswinds will make a huge difference to our ongoing work.

Also, remember that you can use GiveMN to make donations any time. Today is a special day, but these links can be used every day to support our schools.

Bulletin: South Washington County School Board shows interest in acquiring Crosswinds school in Woodbury

Judy Spooner writes in the The South Washington County Bulletin: “South Washington County School Board shows interest in acquiring Crosswinds school in Woodbury.” She filled in background to a discussion that took place at the 8 November South Washington County School Board meeting.

Although early in discussions, board members said last week they see that the Crosswinds building could become a fifth District 833 middle school. Should South Washington County Schools acquire the building, it would occur over a two-year period. …

The school, built in 2003 to house 600 students, currently has 350 students and is in “beautiful condition,” [Superintendent] Jacobus said, but District 833 would have to alter the school’s model, probably to a middle school.

It could also be a school for grades 6-12, District 833 School Board Chairwoman Leslee Boyd said.

Crosswinds, which operates on a year-round schedule emphasizing art and science, has strong enrollment in grades 6-8 but falls off in grades 9 and 10, [EMID and South Washington County school board member] Gelbmann said. That is because parents are concerned about splitting up their student’s high school experience.

Numerous decisions would be ahead if District 833 pursues building acquisition, including a two-year process for planning and transition.

The state pays to transport kids by bus to Crosswinds from the 10 member districts, Gelbmann said, and would have to agree to continue to do so because it’s too expensive for 833.

Also, current teacher contracts would transfer to District 833 if the school is taken over. Those with seniority also have seniority in any of the 10 member districts, under state law, Gelbmann said.

Is Harambee going to Roseville and Crosswinds to South Washington County?

Recent discussion by the board and a conversation with Superintendent Mohr at this week’s Crosswinds Community Partnership (CCP) meeting seem to indicate there is activity afoot to turn our school buildings over to local member districts: Harambee would go to Roseville and Crosswinds to South Washington County. The Superintendent encourages CCP parents to attend the school board meetings at Roseville and South Washington County in order to track developments there, since those boards would probably have a discussion of such a possibility before it is announced at the 11/28 EMID board meeting.

If you are a Roseville or South Washington County resident, you may have particular interest in getting to these local board meetings, but even if you are resident in other EMID districts, you would be welcome to attend these public meetings. There is no indication yet of what purpose Roseville or South Washington County have in mind for our buildings, so showing up, asking questions, and listening to the discussion could be very interesting.

Here is a schedule of November school board meetings at EMID, Roseville, and South Washington County.

Thursday 11/8, 6pm, South Washington County School Board, District Service Center, Cottage Grove. The agenda for this meeting does not list EMID as a topic, but it could come up in the workshop discussion.
Tuesday, 11/13, 6:30pm, Roseville School Board, District Center located at 1251 County Road B2 West. There is no agenda yet, but the agenda should be available soon from the sidebar on this page.
Tuesday, 11/20, 7pm, South Washington County School Board, District Service Center, Cottage Grove. There is no agenda yet, but the agenda should be here closer to the meeting date.
Wednesday, 11/28, 5:30pm, EMID Board at Harambee. No details yet, but the board packet should be here by the week before the meeting.

Remember, too, that you are always welcome to write EMID board members or EMID superintendents with any questions you may have.

Video of the October EMID Board Meeting

Thanks to the efforts of Laurie Stern and Dan Luke we have a video record of much of last night’s EMID Board meeting. Parent testimony, of which there was quite a bit, starts 26 minutes into the part one video. The board’s discussion of the schools can be found during the work session at the start of part one and continues in the part two video.

These videos are not perfect, chunks of the meeting are missing and the audio is pretty quiet at times, so headphones will be helpful. Even so, it is such a great benefit to us all to have a record.

EMID Board Meeting Tonight, 10/17

The EMID Board will meet at Crosswinds at 5:30pm this evening (10/17), with public testimony probably around 6pm or so. As we learned last week, Superintendent Mohr felt it was important for families to show up and share their input with the board this month. She is also asking the board to move their November meeting out of the holiday week since it looks like that meeting will be a very important one for our schools.

This month the board is likely to authorize Superintendent Mohr to begin conversations with member district administrators about the future disposition of our schools. There is a very real chance that the school buildings would be transferred to member districts, with severe consequences for what we have come to know and love about them. At tonight’s meeting we will hear the board begin to discuss this situation, and in November they are likely to come to some kind of decision.

To help you understand some of the technical issues, we have prepared two new background pages on the EMID Families web site. One page is about the EMID Joint Powers Agreement, which binds the district together. Another page is about EMID Finances, and tries to explain some of what has happened over the past few years. These two pages join the EMID data analysis we already had available.

Of course, what the board really needs to hear is your voice. So if you can be at the meeting tonight, or send a letter to the board today, that would wonderful.

Superintendent suggests families come to EMID Board meeting

This week Superintendent Janet Mohr and EMID finance officer Shari Thompson shared with families at Harambee and Crosswinds the same financial briefing they gave to the EMID Board last month:

Shari made it very clear that the district is still in severe financial straits. While our budget cuts to the schools have made it possible for the schools to stay open this year, the district will still run a $1.8 million deficit. This will leave us with only $900,000 dollars in our general fund balance at the end of the year. Obviously, we could not run the district this way for even one more year without running out of funds. Shari noted that contributors to our deficit were declining enrollment at Crosswinds, the geographical distance between our sites, the size of our schools, the fact that our’s are schools of choice without a traditional community supporting them, and the lack of levy authority. She also added “sustainability into the future” as a financial challenge, which highlights the fact that our board has refused to build a sustainable financial model for the schools.

The Superintendent stressed that now is the time for families to get involved. Although she shared no specific plan of action, she did suggest families should at least come to the board meetings and make their voices heard. She noted that the next board meeting will be this coming Wednesday, 10/17 at Crosswinds. The board will discuss the budget during their work session at 5:30pm, the public will have a chance to participate in an open forum shortly after 6pm, then the board will act on an “Authorization for Administration to Discuss Educational Options for EMID Schools, Programs, and Services with Member District Administration”. The board packet for this meeting has some more details, it says:

The Board will discuss authorizing administration to seek alternative educational options and provide information that may be available for Harambee and Crosswinds facilities with member districts within the collaborative of the East Metro Integration District.

What are these “alternative educational options”? We may learn at the work session. It seems like our only chance to respond may be the open forum on Wednesday. This may be an important meeting to attend if you are concerned about the future of our schools.

Crosswinds Seeking Feedback

Yesterday evening the Crosswinds Community Partnership spent half it’s meeting in a focus group to consider the Crosswinds School Improvement Plan. Principal Bass wanted to offer all Crosswinds families an opportunity to respond to the questions that CCP considered. Please look at this School Improvement Parent Focus Group sheet and send your thoughts to bryan.bass@emid6067.net. Thanks!

EMID Board takes a walk in Harambee’s backyard

EMID’s board meeting last night began with a “good news” tour of Harambee’s backyard with teacher and environmental education coordinator Jenny Eckman. The weather was perfect for sharing the wonderful resource that Harambee kids and teachers have all around the school. The board took a walk past where kids had recently discovered an owl pellet with a full skull inside it, saw plenty of scat, and learned from Jenny of the diversity of experience that kids bring into the field and take back home. It was a wonderful way to start a board meeting and these slides may give you a sense of what an incredible resource EMID has in Harambee’s surrounds.

The board also got a solid briefing on district finances from Shari Thompson. Shari made it very clear that the district is still in severe financial straits. While our budget cuts to the schools have made it possible for the schools to stay open this year, the district will still run a $1.8 million deficit. This will leave us with only $900,000 dollars in our general fund balance at the end of the year. Obviously, we could not run the district this way for even one more year without running out of funds. Shari noted that contributors to our deficit were declining enrollment at Crosswinds, the geographical distance between our sites, the size of our schools, the fact that our’s are schools of choice without a traditional community supporting them, and the lack of levy authority. She also added “sustainability into the future” as a financial challenge, which highlights the fact that our board has refused to build a sustainable financial model for the schools.

Three parents spoke to the board at the start of the meeting. They raised concerns about the mission and vision the board was considering in its “strategic roadmap,” offered to help the board develop the “roadmap” for the schools, and noted some continuing school bus issues in Saint Paul. However, the board really did not discuss the mission and vision present in their roadmap document at all. Superintendent Janet Mohr did say she intended to develop a school roadmap that emphasized “readiness” (presumably college readiness) to present to the board at their October meeting. She said that she would solicit family input only after that next board meeting.

Quite a few parents were present for the board meeting and had individual conversations with board members after the meeting. Continued family contact with the board is essential to a healthy outcome for our schools. Thanks to everyone who took the time to attend!

EMID Board Considers Mission and Values, 9/19

The EMID Board will be meeting next Wednesday (9/19) at 5:30pm at Harmbee. Only one parent was present at the August meeting, and the board may be feeling that our family’s interest in the strategic planning process and changes to the district is diminishing. If you can attend the board meeting on 9/19, please do. The full September board packet is available for review.

Of most interest to families will likely be the EMID finance and budget update and the superintendent’s report. No details of the finance and budget update are available at this time, but the superintendents report includes this “strategic roadmap” in the board packet:

During the August meeting a similar document was shared. Superintendent Mohr and several board members stressed that this earlier draft only applied to the “shared services” mission of EMID and that a similar roadmap would be developed to describe the schools. The parent attending that meeting, Eric Celeste, asked the board and Superintendent to please be as explicit about this as possible, suggesting that the title be revised to recognize this limited scope. As you can see, the title of this document includes no such limit. We must assume, statements to the contrary, that the mission and vision documented here are meant to apply to the whole EMID program, including the schools.

Mission Statement
Educational Opportunity and Excellence for ALL Students in the East Metro Area. Ready for Learning, Ready for Life.

Vision – 2016
To be a Center of Excellence in the East Metro area for high levels of intellectual performance from ALL students and equity leadership from member district’s classrooms and boardrooms.

Unfortunately, this mission and vision statement says nothing at all distinctive about EMID. It could be equally applied to any member district. This version of a mission and vision statement does not recognize what has been at the core of EMID’s mission since its founding: the value of true integration. The depth of this commitment and importance of this value were stressed by families, students, and staff again and again in testimony during the bitter hearings on possible school closures last year. Here, as a contrast, is EMID’s current mission and vision statement, drawn from the most recent EMID annual report on the new website:

District Vision
EMID’s vision is to create integrated communities in which all learners have the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for success in an increasingly diverse and interdependent world.

District Mission
EMID’s mission is to provide and promote integrated opportunities for students, families, and staff that expand cultural understanding and support academic achievement.

And the front page of the new website includes a similarly inspirational statement:

EMID is a community of learners whose achievement and well-being are enhanced by diversity, which is valued and celebrated.

If you believe there is something distinctive about EMID that should be validated in our mission and vision statement, please join us at the next board meeting. If you want to call on the board and the Superintendent to include families in the strategic planning process, and recognize the importance of our schools to EMID’s future roadmap, please join us at the board meeting.

While the board does not intend to take any actions at next week’s meeting, they will be discussing these issues. Let’s make sure that they are holding this discussion in a public forum with all our ears listening carefully and our offer of assistance with the difficult tasks ahead clearly present.