The EMID Joint Powers Board meets on Wednesday 5/21 in the Harambee Multicultural Learning Center. The agenda is available. Though it does not include anything directly relating to our “hot” areas of interest, it would still be great if someone can get to the meeting and provide notes to EMID Families.
No recording of EMID board meetings
The EMID board determined at its work session that it was not going to follow up on the suggestion of a digital video camera for the schools to record the board meetings. It sounds like the board calculated at the work session that getting professional-quality recordings of the board meetings would cost $8,000-12,000 per year, dwarfing the cost of equipment. This means that those families who had pledged to support the purchase of the camera are now officially off the hook.
EMID Families meets, April 23
We will meet at Crosswinds at 7pm on Wednesday 4/23. We will be in the “health” room behind the kitchens on the first floor. Please join us!
One note, I’m sorry to say we can’t guarantee child care, but kids are welcome to hang out in the health room while we meet.
Update: meeting notes are now posted if you read the rest of this article.
EMID Families meets Wednesday, 4/23
It is time for our fourth-Wednesday meeting of the EMID Families group. We will meet at the Crosswinds school at 7pm on 4/23. Please join us!
EMID Board Meets April 16
The EMID Joint Powers Board meets on Wednesday April 16 at the Crosswinds School (Water House). The “work session” starts at 6pm and includes a presentation about Crosswinds by principal Roger Kocinski and a discussion of the video recording proposal raised by an EMID Families member last month. The board meeting itself starts at 7pm and includes budget, computer use, bullying, and integration plan agenda items. Don’t forget this week’s meeting is at Crosswinds (not Harambee).
Looping Parent Forum April 17
Harambee Elementary School wants to invite you to an important parent meeting for this Thursday, April 17, from 6 to 8 p.m. The meeting will discuss the possibility of changing to a looping format in our classrooms (looping is one grade level of students working for two years with the same teacher) instead of the current Multiage setup that is currently in place at Harambee. This idea needs to be discussed and your opinion needs to be heard on this subject. If you need childcare, please let us know by Wednesday. Please call Doreen Blohm at 651-379-2507.
Pledges for recording board meetings
We have an opportunity to put our money where our mouth is!
At the March 2008 Joint Powers meeting, a request was made of the Board by a member of EMID Families to begin video taping their meetings and making the video available on the web. This request is being considered and the staff have begun researching cameras. It looks like a digital video camera would be the most appropriate will cost around $1000.
At the last EMID Families large group meeting, it was suggested that we use this opportunity to show our collective appreciation to the EMID Administration and Joint Powers Board by raising the funds to buy the camera (or at least make a contribution to defray the financial burden on them). The camera can be used for other purposes so many stand to benefit from this purchase.
So…… How ’bout it? We have about a week to pull this off. (Remember what we accomplished in less than 17 hours prior to the 622 vote on transportation?) The Joint Powers meets next Wednesday night at 7 and we would love to present them with our pledges at that time.
Eric said he will throw in the first $100. I have a lot of mouths to feed and very little money with which to do it so I can only contribute $10. This leaves $890 to go!!!
The ball is in your court EMID Families. Pledge your support by sending a note to Amy Rostron-Ledoux we will work out the logistics of collecting the money if the purchase is approved by EMID. Together, we can make a difference for our kids and our schools!
No new integration funding language
Amy writes:
The K-12 Finance Bill was unveiled at the Capital today (Mindy Greiling’s baby). It sounds as if the parameters surrounding how integration funding can be spent were not worked into the final language of the bill (something we were all banking on). According to Mindy, the Task Force that was commissioned to address this failed to meet their responsibilities and it was not worked into the bill. Be alert to watch for press regarding this. It is being dubbed the “Minnesota Miracle.”
Plant Sale
The plant sale at Harambee is underway. Orders are due by Wednesday, April 9th [UPDATE: the deadline is now Friday, 4/11]. If your family is like mine, the order form is long lost. Here are electronic copies of the plant pictures and the order form. Today I can (almost) believe spring is on the way.
Brown Power Base Project
The Brown Power Base Project (BPBP) is lobbying the legislature for changes in the Minnesota deseg rules.
Myron Orfield, executive director of the Institute on Race and Poverty, spoke at the February 26 community roundtable held by BPBP. “Racial segregation means social segregation,” he said, noting that school boundaries and the density of low-income housing take away the chance of a good education for many blacks and Latinos. Orfield explained that many urban schools have become poorer in recent years and the level of diversity has dropped.
[…]
Currently, the state of Minnesota has voluntary integration and no power to mandate integration, said Morgan-Spencer. BPBP claims that Minnesota’s open enrollment and integration funding does nothing to desegregate schools and they said they are sending a plan to the state legislature to change that.