by Jim Boyle
Editor
The Jan. 26 meeting to discuss school boundary lines with the families most impacted by the proposed changes to the Twin Lakes Elementary School attendance zone had all the underpinnings of an emotional, controversial and argumentative debate.
One parent cried foul over “classism” on a placard at the entrance to the school cafeteria where the meeting was held. More than 120 parents, District 728 administrators from the four affected elementary schools and the two affected middle schools along with some school staff filled 15 lunch tables for the first chance to publicly scrutinize the proposed boundary lines. The proposed boundary lines for Twin Lakes, Parker, Lincoln and Meadowvale elementary schools were unveiled at a Jan. 11 meeting of the Elk River Area School Board.
District administrators opened Monday’s meeting with a presentation on how Twin Lakes got to this point, the work that was done by the 4004 Committee assembled to prepare the parameters used to draft the proposed changes, and a plan to put attendees to work on what they think of the proposal and their suggestions to improve it.
The goal of the meeting was to encourage and promote a focused conversation and to vale and honor the perspectives of each person. Groups of like-minded individuals were assembled after the first round of questioning allowed participants to identify what they liked and what they felt needed to be improved with the proposal. In the second round they worked to identify solutions to their biggest concerns.
Afterward participants patiently waited in lines to place an allotment of green and orange stickers to say what they could support and what ideas to improve the plan resonated with them the most. Most quietly left after completing their final task while others stuck around to pose more questions to administrators and make a case for their particular viewpoint.
The meeting, which lasted more than two hours, ran remarkably smoothly, but not without flare ups of emotion as parents talked around the tables about where their children and others will be heading to elementary school or middle school this coming fall under the proposal. Those flare ups, however, were limited to those tabletop discussions and did not spill into the big group.
The 4004 Committee will look at the plan again and decide if they will make any revisions. Next, they will present to the School Board on Feb. 8 with final action expected on March 14.
It was this past fall that Twin Lakes Elementary shot past building enrollment capacity by more than 15 percent that triggered a district policy to convene a committee of staff and parents.
Fifty-eight more students than the previous year showed up at Twin Lakes this past fall. The enrollment now sits at 901, and more growth in the east is expected as a large housing development is being prepared.
The 4004 Committee was assembled and was charged with looking at what to do about the crowding at the eastern-most elementary school, and after looking at the options, decided to pull at least 200 students out of the school.
“The goal is for the plan to be durable enough for kids to stay at their school for the remainder of their elementary school career,” said Charlie Blesener, the district’s director of community engagement.
A high number of participants challenged the need to do this, asking to limit the number of kids pulled out of the school to 150. This idea attracted dozens of votes (green stickers). Each participant got five stickers and could put all five on one idea or put one on each of five ideas.
Other ideas to get considerable support were:
–Additional students should not be moved for the sole purpose of maintaining equity across the district.
–Twin Lakes teachers who have kids attending should be allowed to keep their kids at the school.
Other ideas to get a significant number of votes included asking to have the Northfork development remain intact in the Twin Lakes attendance zone and to grandfather in certain groups like those day cares in the Twin Lakes attendance zone.
The woman who toted the placard before the meeting asked during the meeting if socio-economic conditions were considered during the group’s work.
They were, district officials said, later explaining that two clauses in the policy that drives the committee’s work address movement of students to guard against having changes in attendance zones adversely affecting another school or impacting equity.
Among the demographics measured and examined were the numbers of students of color and those with limited English proficiency as well as those in special education and on free and reduced lunch.
School officials were able to identify the percentage changes that could be expected and saw that the most any school increased or decrease was, in most cases, up or down by less than 1 percent. The number of students on free and reduced lunches at Twin Lakes will go down less than 2 percent, and the number of students on free and reduced lunches at Lincoln will also go down by 2 percent. Meadowvale and Parker will both be impacted by less than 1 percent.
“I didn’t speak with the woman, so I don’t know what her specific concern was,” said Joe Stangler, the district’s administrator of research and assessment. “But I can say that we did pay attention to this fact and met the expectations associated with both the policy and the recommendation.”