The best way to get the word out that we want to Save Our Schools is to get the media to cover the story. Radio, newspapers, TV, and other media raise awareness of what is happening to EMID and can even dig into some of the darker corners of the story. If you are a reporter, we truly appreciate your taking the time to check out our EMID Families web site and would like to answer any questions you may have.
Background
We’ve prepared some background sheets to help you get oriented to EMID and what the board has been doing.
The EMID Board has since voted on 1/23/13 to close the two schools and turn governance of Harambee over to Roseville and governance of Crosswinds over to the Perpich Center for Arts Education. Perpich needs legislative authority and funding to take on Crosswinds, but it intends to get that authority and keep the program at Crosswinds largely intact.
However, the board only gave Perpich until April 1 to accomplish this, a very tight deadline for the Minnesota Legislature to act. Should Perpich not get the authority it needs from the legislature, the board agreed to pass the Crosswinds building along to South Washington County Schools. However, since South Washington County has been very clear that it would not continue the current program or welcome current students at the school, our efforts have been clearly focussed on helping Perpich succeed in the Minnesota Legislature.
- EMID/Perpich Request for Urgent Action (PDF)
- Crosswinds Students Visit the Minnesota Capitol, 14 February 2013 (PDF)
- EMID Families Media Backgrounder, 21 January 2013 (PDF)
- EMID Families Media Backgrounder, 6 January 2013 (PDF)
- Background on Board Deliberations, October 2011 (PDF)
- Background on East Metro Integration District (PDF)
- Our emidfamilies.org page will be kept up-to-date
Contacts
- Susan Larson, Crosswinds parent and EMID Families media contact, susanmlarson@comcast.net, 612–968-2940
- Eric Celeste, Crosswinds parent and founder of EMID Families, efc@clst.org, 651–323-2009
- Sue Mackert, Executive Director of the Perpich Center for Arts Education, sue.mackert@pcae.k12.mn.us, 763–279-4160
- Bryan Bass, Crosswinds Principal, bryan.bass@emid6067.net, 651–379-2601
- Kathy Greibel, Harambee Principal, kathy.griebel@emid6067.net, 651–379-2501
- EMID School Board
- EMID Superintendents
Stories
We may have missed something, but these are the stories we’ve noticed in the media already.
- House Leadership Press Conference at 2:30pm TODAY 20 May 2013
- Last Chance to Save Crosswinds, SUNDAY 11am 18 May 2013
- EMID Families Press Conference at 2:30pm TODAY 16 May 2013
- Bulletin: Schools have long list of legislative concerns 24 January 2013
- Press coverage of the transfer of governance 24 January 2013
