Discussion - Steve

First I thank the entire community and how they behaved. This could have been very, very ugly. I have seen board meetings where people have fought so strongly that police were removing people. We have a wonderful sense of community.

Generally the 1000 emails were very civil. We need to build on that. That is a great thing. If we start with that, we need to move forward in a very positive way.

Why ar people so passionate? They love their teachars. We have an excellent teaching staff.

We support those teachers. We are doing all of the right things to give everything child in this district a great education.

part of the problem is that when you get involved with your school that is your life.

What does it mean as a community?

What is it that makes a neighborhood school? I struggle with that living in a suburb. We drive in the suburbs. It does not mean the school that is nearby. We do not do that in our community. Every house is not a home - every school building is not a neighborhood school.

Our students will be well served in any school.

I start with our administration has given an informed opinion. They have advanced education degrees and have to respect their opinion. They recommended that we cut 166 teachers. That is where it starts. Our district will NOT be the same. The issue is how many teachers do we have to teach in these classrooms.

We have spent little time on the loss of 166 teachers. We have 166 fewer classrooms. We are piling students in. There are lots of reasons in the past.

We did go through a strategic planning process. We committed to doing things differently.

I want you to know that those values are very important to me -- the teachers.

School closure

Closing Osseo breaks my heart. Those aren't the facts. There are only 85 students in Osseo that go to that school. We bus students 45 minutes or more to go to that school.

[Hey charlie!]

What about all those that attend schools not within walking distance.

We are a broader community that just where we can walk. Maybe we need to keep Osseo open for that reason. Osseo has not acted as a magnet. It has not attracted people outside of the district. The costs are high.

I believe we need to close Osseo.

Maybe we could have repurposed it years ago. We still have those opportunities, but I think as a community school it should be closed.

$400,000 is a lot of money.

I find myself agreeing to close Osseo.

FO/OV/CI

From a money point of view it makes sense. We find that we can save several fulltime positions.

FO - we need to do something about FO students. This plan addresses that.

I am troubled about the distance. It is not unworkable. I am convinced it can work.

I am convinced enough to move forward on that plan.

Principals are very effective advocates and have come forward with professional advice on how to help students.

Edgewood - it is an easier decision to close that. The school needs a lot of work. It needs a lot of capital investment. What distresses me is that nobody thought that would really happen. We were anticipating how to increase the space not move it. I think the data demonstrates that if we are to close a school then that is on the top of the list.

The problem is that we have to move it somewhere if that is what happens.

That is a huge stuggle for me personally.

As a resident of BP, I am distressed to see us loss and asset to WL. I would have been thrilled it have it moved to Woodland.

Most of my neighbors would have loved ot have it in our neighborhood.

People across the neighborhood. I struggled with displacing WL. That is a very difficult problem for me. What makes people love WL. Very few about the school itself. It is about the relationships itself.

A good portion of the community could move to Fernbrook. Our community is so active that no matter where we put those students that they would do well.

The struggle is how do we export the success to other schools? Can we replicate WL in other schools that would be ideal. I haven't found a way to do that.

My conclusion is the success of the wL is due to the neighborhood rather than the brick school. We ar enot favoring WL in any other area -- curriculum, programs, etc.. It is the parents.

Can we continue the positive involvement in another location and if not, why not? I have not had a good answer. Nobody has told me why it wouldn't work elsewhere. Very few people have the romantic connection to a school. Poeple do not walk their kids to school.

I struggle with traffic problems. This is not a walking community. This is not that type of romantic community.

And, so I reluctantly find myself in favor of closing Edgewood and repurposing Weaver in part because if not, then I have to cut teachers. I have to elminate other options. When I put that all together. I can not just leave WL alone. It does not make me happy. I do not know a better way.

Overcrowding at Basswood elementary. It is a huge problem. They eat from 11:20 to 1:30 and you couldn't squeeze another student in.

I come down to the last part of the whole debate - the realization is that there are lot of suggestions and plans that make sense.

This was a good and collaborative process. A collaborative process does not mean that everyone has a vote. We engage those that can give us an informed decision. The administraiton has done that. We had 7 weeks for the community to weigh in. I considered every one of those suggestions. For those 7 weeks, I have listened and have not come to a decision until just shortly befor the meeting.

The money is not going to be there in the future. I can not spend money now on a hope and a prayer that something will happen.

I am convinced it is the right hting.