[Mpls] Re: Minneapolis School Closures

[ScotNRitaMiller]

The MPS Citizens Budget Advisory Committee has been having a lively, respectful and important email conversation regarding the issue of possibly closing three community schools in the East area.  With Eli's permission, I'd like to share his thoughtful perspective here on the Minneapolis Issues forum, and then my response from that discussion. Here goes...

In a message dated 3/19/2002 6:50:40 PM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:

Getting to the topic of small schools,  I think people need to look at the history of the district.  Many years ago, schools were closed due to financial issues.  At that time 18 schools closed.  Some were reopened later due to enrollment issues.   At that time the same hue and cry was heard about closing my schools, small schools and the creation of larger schools, detrimental to the community. Same issue as we are hearing today.   There were many issues being faced at that time, cost of renovating the building, enrollment decline, and financial problems.  The issues are the same today.  It is not only the population at the building, but also how can we make it safe for our kids, does it meet fire code, how much does it cost to renovate, what is the trend for the school population in that area, etc.   So many questions that need to be addressed before the closing of schools.   This questions need to looked at and answered before decisions are made and the community needs to have these questions answered.  The community needs to accept those decisions, but not before having their questions answered; and they need to look at comparing their school with all the other schools that fall into the same category. 

Some of the schools that merged or became a bigger school at the time of closure needs to be examined to see how they did and how they are doing.  Some of them improved to become the better schools of the district and some not.  I think history could help make intelligent decisions that will benefit our community and the education of our children.  Bigger schools does not mean less welcome or less comfortable with the environment. We all need to overcome biases and make people welcome regardless of who they are or the size of the school.  This is a parental problem also and not just a school issue.  As far as magnet schools, parents of magnet school kids will bring their kids to school regardless of where it is located. That was the whole point of integration of the schools.  Now it is harder because the majority is not same majority it was at that time.  I would argue that people who want “program style”, would do more than those that value only the building because the program can help their kids learn as compared to brick walls.

Eli

To Eli, I agree that it is important to look at history and learn from it.  Unfortunately, the short time frame of the task force (one month) does not allow enough time to thoroughly examine these issues and make sound decisions that the community will support.  We don't want the closing of schools to be a knee-jerk response to the budget crisis. 

You made good points Eli, and I was with you until the last paragraph.  I'm not sure what you meant by people who "value only the buildings".  If you are talking about the advocates for community schools, I would say that we value education AND the relationships that our children have built with the teachers, staff and the community.  Children in community schools know that they are valued as important members of  a community, not just their family.  I know that you can build community at magnet schools as well, but as a parent who has had a child in a school far away, I also know that it is much more difficult to develop and sustain those relationships.

I would also like to add that although this situation sounds similar to what happened years ago (would that be in the 80's?), it is a much more delicate situation now, because there are many alternatives that exist that didn't in the 80's.  With the competition of charter schools, open enrollment with other districts, and growing popularity of home schooling, the district risks losing many more kids.  Years ago, the only alternative was private school or to move.  It is more important than ever to work WITH the community, not AGAINST.  Look at what has happened with the three schools the district announced closing this fall - Chiron, Edison PPL and Mill City.  Chiron and Edison are becoming charter schools, so instead of saving money, the district will lose more revenue.  We don't want to see a domino effect where the district closes schools, they pop up as charter schools, and the district has to close more schools because of the additional lost revenue.

Rita Miller
Hiawatha Neighborhood

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Ken This discussion is really getting fascinating.  The input is getting diverse and extremely important. It shows how much input can be achieved via email. Maybe we should create a chat room, invite the board, parents, community, all those interested to partake of this discussion on viability, justification, accountability, etc.   Getting to the topic of small schools,  I think people need to look at the history of the district.  Many years ago, schools were closed due to financial issues.  At that time 18 schools closed.  Some were reopened later due to enrollment issues.   At that time the same hue and cry was heard about closing my schools, small schools and the creation of larger schools, detrimental to the community. Same issue as we are hearing today.   There were many issues being faced at that time, cost of renovating the building, enrollment decline, and financial problems.  The issues are the same today.  It is not only the population at the building, but also how can we make it safe for our kids, does it meet fire code, how much does it cost to renovate, what is the trend for the school population in that area, etc.   So many questions that need to be addressed before the closing of schools.   This questions need to looked at and answered before decisions are made and the community needs to have these questions answered.  The community needs to accept those decisions, but not before having their questions answered; and they need to look at comparing their school with all the other schools that fall into the same category.    Some of the schools that merged or became a bigger school at the time of closure needs to be examined to see how they did and how they are doing.  Some of them improved to become the better schools of the district and some not.  I think history could help make intelligent decisions that will benefit our community and the education of our children.  Bigger schools does not mean less welcome or less comfortable with the environment. We all need to overcome biases and make people welcome regardless of who they are or the size of the school.  This is a parental problem also and not just a school issue.  As far as magnet schools, parents of magnet school kids will bring their kids to school regardless of where it is located. That was the whole point of integration of the schools.  Now it is harder because the majority is not same majority it was at that time.  I would argue that people who want “program style”, would do more than those that value only the building because the program can help their kids learn as compared to brick walls.   Eli     -----Original Message----- From: Robin Halloum [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2002 2:33 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Adrienne Wiggins; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Katie Simon Dastych; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Small Schools   Ken:    Please note the new address for Nafiz and myself as: [EMAIL PROTECTED]   Regarding the small school study...I've seen that study and have some questions of my own.  This  issue is much, much, more thorny than just low enrollment and building costs.  Why are we looking at small high school learning environments?  Because large schools do not foster good learning environments for kids.  Small works.    Small schools are a wonderful means to meet the needs of children from all diverse backgrounds and are a great way to prevent kids form falling through the cracks.  Our Somali families WANT to stay at our school because they are known, welcomed, and have a voice that is heard and feel apart of the community.  Statements echoed by my daughter's best friend's family who are Native American.  The East area housing is more affordable for families and we have more affordable housing coming our way.  We need our schools.   A main bone of contention is that we have been actively seeking the district's help to work with us to make these schools viable for the last three years!  We have conducted a number of well attended community meetings, some small meetings with board members, the superintendent, we have invited district number crunchers out to our schools .... really the time and energy this community has devoted to get the district to work with us is unbelievable.    Even last summer I met with Birch Jones, Catherine Shreves and a couple of other folks from our area to make sure small schools were on the districts radar AND to make sure that the district allows ample time for rational arguments, time to do the math, to avoid the district spin, research the truth and figure out what works best for this area to have viable schools.    End result?  See the attached letter we received last week and the tight timeline the district finds itself in to meet its goal to close THREE TO FOUR schools in our area. Confirmed at Hiawatha's PTO meeting by East Area Superintendent Birch Jones.  Wouldn't it have been wiser to have been working on the solution for small schools three years ago when we first stated asking questions?  Or how about five years ago when the district made a commitment to go back to community schools.  Don't get me wrong, the district has been great at listening and they are charming.  But that doesn't help us.   And what's the enrollment at Southwest's Lake Harriet Lower School K-2... 250?  Shouldn't they be in the discussion to close and save the district money?  How about Pratt?  That building has to be the same age as our schools and what's their enrollment.. 50?  I know, I know, they are growing their school to be a k-5.  We are talking about low enrollment and older buildings right?   In fairness, let's close SW Lower Lake Harriet, Pratt and one from the East area.  It's really about costs right?   Why are we allowing magnets to thrive and not community schools?  And how does magnets jive with the districts goal to have children attend schools in their neighborhood and save transportation costs?  And, really, let's get those exact dollars it is costing us to send our students to Southwest's  Marcy, Barton and Ramsey versus community schools.     Let's study this fiasco and then talk about closing four fantastic schools in the East area.    Robin K. Halloum Youth and Elders in Education Volunteers of America 612.617.7849 612.331.6772 FAX

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