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12/31/2009 12:00 AMWendy Erlien, MN Sun Newspapers It has been quite a year. That short statement by Anoka Hennepin School District Superintendent Dennis Carlson just touches on the tip of the ice burg of challenges District 11 faced in 2009. Challenges Carlson expects to see continue into 2010 and beyond without the state funding more for education. Carlson took the helm of the states largest school district in July, after Dr. Roger Giroux retired December 2008. "A year ago, I was retired and working for a consulting company. It seems like years ago. It has been an unbelievably busy year - something like I've never seen," he said. "I've been in public education for 40 years and have never seen anything like this." With the school year half over, there have been some tough choices made throughout the year - including the decision by the School Board move forward with multiple school closures and boundary changes that will result in moving 2,300 students and 300 to 500 staff members to new locations. Even though voters approved a referendum in November to renew a nearly $8 million operating levy for the district, an $18 million budget reduction was needed for the 2010-2011 school year, and the district was faced with how to respond to declining enrollment. As a result, the School Board voted at the end of November to close both kindergarten centers, Peter Enich in Anoka and Park View in Champlin with all those students returning to their home schools. Champlin Elementary School and Riverview Elementary in Brooklyn Park will close. Those students will be combined at a new site created at Park View and part of Jackson Middle School next door. Sandburg Middle School in Anoka will close. Sixth graders from that school will go to Washington Elementary School in Anoka, which become a sixth-grade only facility and seventh and eighth graders will go to Fred Moore Middle School in Anoka. L.O. Jacob Elementary School and Sorteberg Elementary School, both in Coon Rapids, will close. Boundary changes, also approved by the School Board in November, will affect a total of 16 existing schools and the eight schools and sites that will close at the school year. School boundaries have not changed in eight years, but the school closings required new boundaries. "People have been working day and night for months - and we're starting to show some signs of stress," Carlson said. Despite what Carlson refers to as the "leanness" of the district, he said is pleased with the staff through the challenges and support of the community by passing a levy. "For our citizens in this kind of economic condition, to come out and give us a victory by a 60/40 margin - was incredible," Carlson said. "We are so proud of the people in our district for recognizing the importance of education." A fresh start to a new year and new legislative session doesn't mean the end the district's financial concerns. "I am not at all optimistic that they [legislature] are going to resolve any educational funding issues in this session," he said. "My message as superintendent to legislators is that we've done everything we can possibly do. Now it is your turn to respond. We are saying to the state - you have to step up and adequately fund education." At the end of 2009, Carlson did not hold much optimism for increased revenue from the state in 2010. "We'll be lucky if we don't get a cut," Carlson said. At a projection of no state revenue increases for education for the next two years, it will be a start to planning for "dismantling a very good school district," Carlson said. "We are not going to be able to have the same programs, the same buildings, the same options - we are simply not going to have it," he said. Without more funding from the state in the years to come, Carlson questioned the future of education in Minnesota. "I understand that times are tough - but are they going to let a generation of kids not get a uniform education and divide the state into have and have not," he said. "Everyone has a role to play, and the legislature needs to play their role. We have done what we can." Although some of the decisions made by the district have been "stressful" for people, Carlson said parents and staff have done a "wonderful job" of supporting one another and "which is why I think we've weathered this as well as we have". "They care about each other," he said. Despite the financial challenges that faced the Anoka Hennepin School District in 2009, Carlson said he remains optimistic. "I love the job," he said. "We can make a difference." http://www.mnsun.com/articles/2010/01/04/news/p131aheducationyir.txt | |||||||||||||||||||||
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