The Pioneer Press ran a story that “Mounds View Public Schools officials have decided to explore an integration collaboration with neighboring districts.” It goes on to say, “The district will team up with the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale and Mahtomedi school districts to study the idea. A formal collaboration has not been formed, but it’s on the horizon.”

Full story is here.

At tonight’s EMID board meeting Kevin Donovan (651-407-8983, mksbdonovan@comcast.net) shared the news that the Mahtomedi School Board is setting up a group to consider their integration investments, including the pros and cons of continued participation in EMID. This was just a brief announcement during the Board Forum section of them meeting, so it did not appear on the agenda. After the meeting Kevin told me that the Mahtomedi board expects the group to conclude its work and issue a report by January 2009. Note that the next deadline for pulling out of the EMID collaborative is during February 2009. Kevin stressed that Mahtomedi hopes to get parents involved in the group and told me the best way to indicate interest in taking part would be to contact the Superintendent, Mark Wolak (651-407-2001, mwolak@mahtomedi.k12.mn.us).

The EMID Joint Powers Board meets on Wednesday April 16 at the Crosswinds School (Water House). The “work session” starts at 6pm and includes a presentation about Crosswinds by principal Roger Kocinski and a discussion of the video recording proposal raised by an EMID Families member last month. The board meeting itself starts at 7pm and includes budget, computer use, bullying, and integration plan agenda items. Don’t forget this week’s meeting is at Crosswinds (not Harambee).

Amy writes:

The K-12 Finance Bill was unveiled at the Capital today (Mindy Greiling’s baby).  It sounds as if the parameters surrounding how integration funding can be spent were not worked into the final language of the bill (something we were all banking on).  According to Mindy, the Task Force that was commissioned to address this failed to meet their responsibilities and it was not worked into the bill.  Be alert to watch for press regarding this.  It is being dubbed the “Minnesota Miracle.”

The Brown Power Base Project (BPBP) is lobbying the legislature for changes in the Minnesota deseg rules.

Myron Orfield, executive director of the Institute on Race and Poverty, spoke at the February 26 community roundtable held by BPBP. “Racial segregation means social segregation,” he said, noting that school boundaries and the density of low-income housing take away the chance of a good education for many blacks and Latinos. Orfield explained that many urban schools have become poorer in recent years and the level of diversity has dropped.

[...]

Currently, the state of Minnesota has voluntary integration and no power to mandate integration, said Morgan-Spencer. BPBP claims that Minnesota’s open enrollment and integration funding does nothing to desegregate schools and they said they are sending a plan to the state legislature to change that.

At the EMID board meeting last night Kathy Griebel shared the results of EMID’s survey of 622 family intentions for the next two school years. Kathy noted that these numbers ask parents to peer awfully far into the future, so they should be considered “soft” numbers. The executive summary provides a good overview of the response while the survey response shows the numbers in a bit more detail.

The bottom line is that it looks like a lot of 622 families intend to continue with EMID. If transportation were not an issue, then the attrition from 622 would not be significantly different for the attrition that is the norm for EMID. However, for over 30% of families transportation is a significant issue. EMID is, of course, working hard to resolve that issue for families.

Amy noticed that district 279 (not a part of EMID) is facing some integration issues:

I dug a little deeper and this is what seems to be the case. (I am in the Discover Phase so I really have very little information at this point. Any additional information EMID families obtain would be appreciated.) Osseo and Maple Grove are in the same school district (279) which serves Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Maple Grove, Osseo, Plymouth, Corcoran, Dayton, and Hassan. District 279 is already involved in an Integration District, but there remain several racially identifiable schools within their district. I believe the effort is to redefine boundaries within the district to create more equitable educational opportunites. As per the desegregation rule they have a Multi-District Collaboration Council which is exploring their options.

Amy provides a fantastic summary of the Multi-District Collaboration Council Community Event EMID sponsored on 2/25. The group discussed the deseg rule on which EMID was founded and then issues of students feeling disrespected and families unaware of the benefits available to them through EMID. “EMID families are encouraged to weigh in on these issues. Your feedback is appreciated by the committee.”

Kathy Griebel wrote with the following invitation from EMID’s Multi-District Collaboration Council:

I hope you are enjoying your break. I am pleased that some of you are able to attend the MDCC Community Event, scheduled for Monday, February 25 from 6:30-8:00 at Harambee. I have attached another flier for your review. This is your chance to provide feedback and input to the Multi-District Community Collaboration (MDCC) group regarding proposed issues, goals, and objectives for the 2008-2012 EMID Integration Plan. Please RSVP to Mary Ojile (651.379.2700 or mary.ojile@emid6067.net) to attend this event.

In addition to the Community Event, the MDCC has developed an online survey. The survey is quite brief and should take less than 10 minutes to complete. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey by March 3, 2008. The survey will also be posted on the EMID website.

Thank you for your continued support of EMID.

EMID families in 622 should get a copy of this survey in the mail. You have three choices:

• complete and return the copy mailed to you;
• complete this PDF copy, print it, and return it to Kathy Griebel at Harambee, 30 East County Road B, Mapelwood, MN 55117;
• complete this electronic version.

In all cases, please make sure you complete this survey by March 3rd. Thanks!

Also, remember, ISD 622 membership in EMID will not change for the 2008-2009 school year. All services provided — including transportation — will remain the same for next year.