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!

South Washington County Bulletin: Decision on future of Crosswinds School could come Wednesday

The South Washington County Bulletin ran a story by Judy Spooner today: “Decision on future of Crosswinds School could come Wednesday.”

Before last week’s meeting, most of the member superintendents supported closing the schools and retaining but changing the role of EMID, according to Gelbmann.

While EMID board members seemed to support closing the schools, after hearing of a second option that would keep them open but with funding changes, resolve to close them appeared to wane.

“I don’t think there are six votes here to close the schools,” Gelbmann said.

The article makes it sound like this shift came about by magic. We all know the hard work that was involved, though, don’t we?

EMID Board Meeting, 10/19, this is it!

The East Metro Integration District (EMID) School Board will meet on Wednesday, October 19, at 5:30pm at Crosswinds School, 600 Weir Drive, Woodbury, MN. Please join us at this meeting!

Last week the EMID School Board decided it would hold two votes at the meeting on 10/19. One vote, for what they call “option one” will be a vote on whether to close Harambee and Crosswinds at the end of this school year. The other vote, for what they call “option two” will be to reduce the funding for the schools, but allow them to stay open and serving the children of our ten member school districts. There will be a chance for public testimony at the meeting this Wednesday. Raise your voice for our schools!

The full board packet (PDF) is available at EMID’s website.

Children are also welcome at the school board meeting. Those who can sit through the meeting will learn a lot about how their schools are governed. There will be child care provided during the school board meeting at Crosswinds for those kids who are potty trained but don’t have the patience for sitting through the meeting.

Translators will also be available.

Woodbury Bulletin: Crosswinds to close?

We learned today that the Woodbury Bulletin had published a story called “Crosswinds to close?” on 10/13.

This week, 833 Superintendent Mark Porter will be speaking to the EMID board in support of closing the schools because they are “not performing as intended” and arguing the money could better be used for integration projects that would serve all District 833 students.

The information in this story clearly pre-dated the 10/12 EMID board work session, even though the story was dated later. A number of the facts cited in the story were also not well explained. Two parents have since had conversations with another reporter at the Woodbury Bulletin, and we expect them to publish a new EMID story on Wednesday.

Stillwater School Board Director Hoeppner Supports “Option Two”  

According to EMID families at the Stillwater School Board work session last night, George Hoeppner, Stillwater’s representative on the EMID board, provided an overview of the two options presented by the superintendents this week. He discussed the financials of “option two” quite a bit. Stillwater board members asked questions about per pupil funding and why it’s higher in EMID than in Stillwater. George explained that “option two” came along because the EMID board wasn’t comfortable with closing the schools although the member district superintendents clearly support “option one” (closure). Hoeppner complimented the EMID families for speaking up, sharing their feelings, and telling their stories. The equity director from Stillwater said it was very impressive that people rallied for their school and made an impact on policy decisions.

Hoeppner affirmed that he will be voting for “option two.” So that is our first confirmed vote to keep the EMID schools open!

Pioneer Press: Schools could get a reprieve

Megan Boldt wrote another EMID story for the Pioneer Press: “Schools in Woodbury, Maplewood could get a reprieve.” She was at the EMID board work session last night and reports:

Superintendents from an integration collaborative of east-metro school districts still believe it’s best to close two schools that were opened to address racial segregation and focus those dollars to benefit more students.

But they gave East Metro Integration District, or EMID, school board members a second option on Wednesday night.

EMID Board Considers New Proposal from Superintendents

After presenting a preliminary recommendation to close EMID schools at the last board meeting, the member district superintendents came forth with a second recommendation: keep EMID schools open without spending any integration revenues on the schools themselves. The board will vote on both options, to close and to restructure, at its next meeting on Wednesday, October 19, at 5:30pm at Crosswinds.

The proposed restructuring of EMID finances would reduce member district contributions of integration funds by 43% to $30 per student and require that this money only be spent on the shared services EMID provides for member districts. The schools would be funded through the “per pupil ‘backpack’ money” that each student brings to EMID and an additional contribution per student from the EMID reserve funds. EMID has enough reserve funds to maintain this arrangement for two to four years while the state works out what to do with integration funding and EMID discerns what should be done with the schools in the long run.

It looked quite likely that the board would vote next week to not close the schools but to restructure the funding instead. However, both these options will be moved and both will be voted on, so there is still the very real chance the board could vote to close EMID schools at the end of this school year. We hope EMID families can find time to attend this critical meeting of the EMID board next week. There is a good chance the news will be positive, but a positive outcome is much more likely with the public keeping careful watch on the board’s work.

We recorded tonight’s meeting and have many notes that we will post as soon as possible.

Harambee’s Principal Griebel Writes the EMID Board

Kathy Griebel, Harambee’s principal and a long-time EMID staff member, shares a letter she wrote to the board today.

I believe that racially integrated schools serve as a key structure of opportunity and a foundational element for transforming schools, districts, and communities. Innovation through magnet schools and interdistrict collaboration are essential to school improvement and collaboration. The Statewide Task Force on School Integration found that magnet schools are a widely used tool to promote integration through school choice.

Please consider writing your own letter!

EMID Board Work Session 10/12

This is just a reminder that the EMID board continues its discussion of our schools’ future at its work session this Wednesday, 10/12, at 6pm at Harambee. While there is no public forum time at this meeting, it important to be present as witnesses to the board’s conversation. There is also break time before and after the meeting when you can have an opportunity to talk personally with board members. We hope you can be there.

EMID-SOS organizers met this weekend and looked for ways to create a constructive conversation with board members. We understand the kind of pressure they face in their home districts and don’t think EMID should remain untouched by the budget woes inflicted on public education by the legislature. In fact, we decided to encourage the board to consider options that might decrease EMID funding somewhat over the next two years, but ensure the schools remain open through the 2012-2013 school year so that we have the space to work together on plans for the future.

We have had some feedback from the board and superintendent that suggest the options discussed on Wednesday will include more than just the member-superintendents’ recommendation for closure. We should get a better idea at that meeting of who might be willing to support a win-win solution.

If you can’t be at the meeting you may be able to get some updates via our twitter feed. Note, you do not need a twitter account to view this feed. Anyone who does tweet can add to this feed using the “#emidsos” hashtag.

Pioneer Press: east metro magnet schools face closing

Megan Boldt wrote a story in the Pioneer Press this morning: “2 east metro magnet schools face closing in Maplewood, Woodbury.”

“There is a significant sense in many of us that our kids are doing well in these schools when they didn’t do well in others,” said St. Paul resident Mary Hess, who has sent her two sons to the schools.

“What it means to be successful in the world we live in now is way more than just how well students perform on standardized tests. It means being able to participate in a largely multicultural and multiracial world. Day to day, it’s a culture of integration at these schools.”

…

Robicheau said operating the two schools consumes about three-quarters of the special district’s $12 million annual budget. But the schools serve only 880 students, fewer than 1 percent of the 122,000 students in the East Metro Integration District’s member districts.

…

Robicheau said the money spent on the two schools could be directed to early childhood and literacy programs, magnet programs in member districts and more training to address the achievement gap.

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