Education Notebook

ARTICLE: Links emerge between Houston school district administrators, private company and southwestern Minnesota school district

(Note: Here's today's story about Houston public schools, linked into one version rather than split into two like the print version. I also included a few of the board minutes below if people are interested at following some of the trail. I didn't include all e-mails, company records searches, etc, though. -EM)

HOUSTON, Minn. — The Houston school board has launched an investigation reportedly into the actions of two former employees and the company they created, Ambient Learning.

Representatives for Houston public schools cannot confirm the subject of the investigation, citing data privacy laws.  But the Post-Bulletin has found links between Houston public schools, Ambient Learning and another public school district located in Madelia, Minn., which is about 100 miles west of Rochester.

Two top-level administrators have left Houston public schools, amid allegations that the pair didn't inform the school board when they created an education consulting business based off of the school district's popular online education model.

Olmsted County judge denies JM student's request for restraining order, reinstatement to band class

(Ed. note: Both stories about this issue are included. Since both are long, I included the print-version links at the top of the page. -EM)

LINK: Judge denies restraining order
LINK: JM student alleges discrimination

Judge denies restraining order in band removal lawsuit

By Elliot Mann
The Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

An Olmsted District judge has denied a legal request from a 14-year-old John Marshall High School student to return to his freshman band class pending a future decision on an injunction.

Judge Joseph Chase issued his ruling Monday afternoon, and the student will remain in the sophomore band class where the Rochester school district moved him for now.

A hearing on a temporary injunction to reverse the district's decision is scheduled for April 29.

The student and his mother filed a discrimination lawsuit in Olmsted District Court last week against the school district and an assistant principal at JM. The family requested a temporary restraining order so the student could return to his freshman band class while the case was pending, and Chase had a hearing on the request Friday.

The student was reassigned to a different band class while the district investigated a claim that he had inappropriately touched a female student. The student, represented by Rochester attorney James McGeeney, alleges he was discriminated against because of his race and sex.

The complaint seeks more than $50,000 in damages.

ARTICLE: Rochester's middle school industrial tech, home ec classes meet the buzz saw, butcher knife

(Ed note: This article appeared in Saturday's Post-Bulletin, but it was split into two due to space. Here it is as one article. Links to the print versions are provided at the end. -EM)

When Keven Newton began teaching industrial technology to middle schoolers 24 years ago, there was a metal shop, drafting lab, electronic area and wood shop. The metal shop was eliminated years ago, the drafting lab soon followed suit and next fall, the rest of the industrial technology department vanishes, too.

Rochester public schools has announced that all industrial technology and family and consumer sciences classes will be removed from the middle school curriculum next year. The move has been caused by the most recent round of budget cuts. 

In February, the school board cut $4.5 million, a year after slashing more than $9 million. The latest round of cutbacks included a 3.5 percent reduction in middle school staff, which translates to at least five middle school teachers. At least six high school teachers will lose their jobs, too.

District officials maintain that the decision doesn't mean those classes aren't important, but that it simply comes down to a numbers game. "It's not that these courses aren't important for kids," said Ann Clark, Rochester's executive director of curriculum and instruction. "A lot of tough decisions had to be made."

Currently, students in sixth, seventh and eighth grade take exploratory classes, also known as electives. Those classes include art, family and consumer sciences (FACS), health and Spanish. But next year, that changes.

Sixth-graders will not have exploratory classes. Seventh-graders will have one semester of communication skills/computer literacy and one of art. Eighth-graders will have one semester of Spanish and one semester of health.

While there has been a stepped up focus on science and math courses, other departments have been hit hard as education experts call for courses labeled as college preparatory. But many students, Newton said, can become well-compensated electricians, mechanics or metal workers, among other trades. These classes can first ignite hands-on interest.

Houston public schools superintendent resigns amid concerns about outside business

The business of online education has apparently merged too close to one public school superintendent, as Houston school head Kim Ross has resigned, the Post-Bulletin's Laura Horihan reported today:

HOUSTON — Amid concerns about his involvement in a private online learning initiative, Houston Superintendent Kim Ross announced Tuesday that he'll be leaving the school district at the end of his contract June 30.

Houston School Board members discussed concerns earlier this month regarding Ross' role in Ambient Learning, which he created in partnership with another district employee, Steve Kerska. Houston Public Schools communications director Kelley Stanage confirmed that Ross will be leaving the school district.

Ross didn't respond to a request for comment for followup on the resignation from the superintendent's job.

Some Houston residents have voiced concern that Ross and Kerska's work with Ambient Learning was a conflict of interest and feared the company would compete with the district's online programs. Under Ross' leadership, Houston opened one of the first public online schools in Minnesota. He recently was named on of the top 10 Tech Savvy Superintendents by editors of eSchool News.

According to a story in the Chatfield News, Ross was among applicants for the Chatfield superintendent position but currently isn't being considered. School board member Ron Evenson said Monday that board members "certainly have questions" about Ross' and Kerska's involvement in Ambient Learning.

"Everybody's kind of in question mode," Evenson said.

What do YOU think? Is education funding a 'black hole?'

As talk about a possible levy referendum in Rochester ramps up, the opinions are starting to come in about education spending. Rochester resident Dale Stowers wrote a letter to the editor about this, explaining that he feels the looming levy question leaves him in a no-win situation.

I think he poses an interesting question, not only to Rochester residents but also to those living in other communities that are considering a referendum. How does my regular reader respond to this? Here's the letter from Mr. Stowers (which also appears in today's paper:

Regarding the commentary in the Post-Bulletin on Feb. 24 from Rochester art teacher Michael Carson:

I am advised to endorse this school district's current leadership. I am urged to stifle any and all negative opinions regarding such. I am asked to vote for the school levy in spite of my convictions and forego my freedom of speech to express my opinion. I am painted as an enemy of the students of Rochester if Ido not vote yes.

If I vote yes on the school levy, the school board and the overpaid superintendent and cabinet would assume they have my tacit approval of the way things have been run in the past few years. This is not the case, and I will not vote for a school levy to allow the administration to continue the status quo. This is the same old song and dance with a different singer.

Former Gov. Jesse Ventura said it best: "Education in Minnesota is like a black hole that will never ever have enough money."

-Dale Stowers, Rochester

What do YOU think?

Rochester Off-Campus threatened with aggressive restructuring through federal grant

(Here's a story for today about Rochester Off-Campus Charter School and how they might be impacted by a federal government grant to improve schools. In the print edition, the story was cut into two parts because of our jump rule. However, it's probably easier to read it as one. EM)

A federal government approach to raising school performance has threatened Rochester Off-Campus Charter School, along with 33 other schools statewide, with closing or widespread restructuring by next school year.

The state Department of Education named the schools in a federal grant application for about $34 million. The schools, identified as the lowest 5 percent of schools in the state based on test scores and graduation rates, will receive the funding help after developing aggressive plans to reform their programs.

It will be the biggest overhaul of some of the state's weakest schools in recent memory, with more schools going through major overhauls in a few months than they did during the previous eight years during No Child Left Behind, said Patricia King, director of school improvement at the Minnesota Department of Education.

But will Rochester Off-Campus Charter School close? Will half of the teachers and Director Jay Martini be given pink slips? That responsibility lies with independent evaluators who will be hired by the state Education Department.

During the next few weeks, those independent organizations will review each of the schools and decide the best course of action for each.

Rochester Off-Campus Charter School was launched in 1993 to serve students who are dealing with issues that have prevented them from success in a typical school. That includes students who are: at least one year behind in grade level, pregnant or already a parent, chemically dependent, a victim of physical or sexual abuse, homeless during the past six months, dealing with mental health issues, or those who have been expelled from school.

Taken another way, the students that other schools ask to leave are the ones Rochester Off-Campus welcomes with open arms.

Since students at Rochester Off-Campus have gaps in their educational career, their state test scores have typically lagged behind state averages. The school has also regularly missed federal Adequate Yearly Progress benchmarks, which are set by those same state tests.

And since students are often a year or two behind the original timeline when they enroll at ROC, the school's graduation rate gets hit, too.

Martini said many students graduate, but just not with their original class, which isn't taken into account on the state graduation rate.

"If someone says, 'Well, all of your kids aren't graduating on time,' my response is: duh," Martini said.

He continued that the school understands that test scores need to improve, but said his students succeed in many other ways. Martini is encouraged that the federal grant allows evaluators to understand what the school does successfully.

"My kids overachieve in so many areas and in test scores they don't, so it's hard to label one as [underperforming]," Martini said.

The school boasts highly improved attendance rates, from a group of students that typically missed weeks of class per semester, as well as decreased rates of relapse for students dealing with substance abuse issues.

After the evaluators finish their work, a new department within the Education Department, called the Office of Turnaround Schools, will take the evaluators' reports and work with the host school districts to pick from one of four restructuring plans. Options include replacing the principal and half or more of the teachers, converting to charter-school status or closing the school.

King said the review will be holistic and not just based on test scores.

But many of the options don't sit well with the state's teachers, said Tom Dooher, president of the Education Minnesota teachers union, because they seem to blame the teachers. "Of the president's four choices, three of them are pretty draconian," he said.

Martini said he didn't want to seem "Pollyanna-ish" about the issue, but that he sees the program as an opportunity.

"I see this thing as a license to get better," Martini said. "Being identified [as underperforming] is shameful — I understand that and I don't want that for my parents and my kids — but aside from that, it directs resources and [starts] paying attention to a population that traditionally has been under-served and not been understood."

Martini said he is waiting for more direction from the Minnesota Department of Education, but

"If you're saying your kids are achieving, tell us how, my goodness. I have endless data that can support how wonderful my kids are doing here," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

If you don't like the specter of huge public education funding cuts, don't read this blog entry (news from St. Paul)

Minnesota's public education funding could receive a tremendous thump from one bill that has been brought forward in the State House.

The bill, HF3082, would cut back state education funding drastically, to the tune of $9.3 million in Rochester alone. It would slice funding from $6.683 billion to $6.193 billion, a change on average of $517 per pupil.

Now, rarely do bills this large emerge without any changes, and it's important to note that this has only been proposed in the House. (It's first reading was Monday.) But these types of bills are important to note if only for forecasting what could happen with Minnesota's education funding this legislative session.

I don't want to cause any uneeded panic like some types, but this bill is worth noting. Here is a .pdf of every state school district, organized by district number.

LINK: House file HF3082
LINK: Proposed reduction in school revenue (pdf)

(Hat tip to Minnesota School Boards Association)

Minnesota government to schools: The check will be in the mail, eventually

In an unprecedented move, the Minnesota government has proposed delaying the payment of about $423 million in state aid to 231 school districts this spring in order to cover its own bills over the same period.

The state needs to increase its own cash flow during March, April and May and state statute requires the education payments to be held off so that the state avoids short-term borrowing. The statute requires the aid to be repaid by May 30.

Districts that have solid reserve fund balances are impacted by the measure. But the gap could still leave many seeking short-term loans to cover their own fund balances.

Rochester public schools are expected to float about $15.8 million to St. Paul, which measures fifth-largest in the state. Still, according to district officials, they should be able to avoid any short-term borrowing. "We will be able to whether the storm this spring and not have to go out and borrow," Rochester finance director Larry Smith said.

However, things don't seem as rosy in Pine Island, one of the many schools who will likely need to borrow money for at least a few weeks. Superintendent Chris Bates expects to take out short-term loans in covering some of the $1 million of state aid that will be delayed to his school system.

"Is this going to be a big deal? Yeah," Bates said. "The state's in a mess, let's face it. They are facing decisions and times they have not faced in a lifetime."

Minnesota has found itself with nearly empty coffers largely due to shortages within sales and income taxes, which experts say were brought on by the Great Recession. Still, the plan has been hit hard by some who say it passes the buck to school districts figuratively, but not literally.

While talking to the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday morning, state Sen. Ann Lynch said this punishes school districts that have been fiscally responsible.  "The notion, proposal on the table, to steal the reserves from our schools across the state of Minnesota is not leadership," said Lynch, a democrat who lives in Rochester.

In asking for a response to Lynch, Governor Tim Pawlenty's press secretaries directed comment to the Minnesota Department of Education. Education Commissioner Alice Seagren released statement Tuesday afternoon that said districts who have solid reserve funds have been targeted for the loans.

"These payment delays are required by state law under these circumstances," Seagren said. "The state’s cash flow situation reflects lower than anticipated revenues due to the struggling economy."

The state will delay aid to the impacted schools on March 15, March 30 and April 15. They are expected to pay it back by May 30. Minnesota has never used this funding mechanism before, Minnesota School Boards Association Governmental Relations Director Grace Keliher said. It was created in 1986.

The possible amounts delayed changed over the past few days, too. Rochester's possible amount to be delayed hovered near $27 million at one point, which is roughly the same amount as the district's entire reserve.

If the state decided to take that much, Smith said the district would most definitely need to borrow funds.
Austin public schools shouldn't be impacted too greatly by the delay. Only 3 percent of their aid payments in March and April, or $118,000, will be delayed.

Rochester could be hit hard next year though, if the state needs to tap into this law again. If the amount of delayed funding increased — and with the next state biennium already estimated at a $5.4 billion deficit, it could — Rochester might find itself passing the hat.

In response to the delayed-aid law, state Sen. Terri Bonoff, DFL-Roseville and Rep. Mindy Greiling-Roseville proposed abolishing the measure on Tuesday.  It's unknown at this point if that idea will gain any traction.

Rochester schools: Proposed deal puts the freeze on salaries

Turbulent economic times will put a two-year freeze on Rochester teacher’s salaries, according to a preliminary agreement between the Rochester school district and the teachers union.

The preliminary agreement calls for zero percent increases to the Rochester Education Association salary schedule. Teachers can still receive raises though, through their yearly increases called “steps” and also by obtaining additional college credits called “lanes.” The contact involves the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years.

Rochester schools are currently looking at slicing $4.5 million from the budget and Rochester Education Association President Kit Hawkins said increasing the base salaries would have augmented that amount, putting the union “between a rock and a hard place."

“Any change in our projections were simply going to cost more jobs,” Hawkins said.

A majority of the district’s 1,200 teachers will still need to ratify the contract. They will vote Jan. 4, but will Rochester’s educators support the deal?

Hawkins said she is unsure, but continued that she remained confident in the agreement. She said teachers are reasonable professionals who understand that everyone is feeling the impact of the slumping economy. Many educators have second jobs, she continued.

In Rochester public schools, an entry-level teacher with a bachelor’s degree earns $33,722. The following year they earn $34,548. Rochester’s teachers earned an average of $49,112 during the 2008-2009 school year, according to the Minnesota Department of Education.

Who will be frozen out? Those going without raises are educators who have reached the top of the pay scale, or the end of the “steps,” by teaching for more than 24 years.

Those teachers will receive a one-time stipend of 1 percent of their salary. For example, a 25-year teaching veteran who holds a master’s degree earns $60,199 and would receive the stipend, instead of a raise. The regular “step” raises will account for a 2.9 percent increase in the district’s expenses this year, or about $1.8 million, and a 1.93 percent increase in expenses next year, or about $1.9 million.

But since the salary schedule doesn’t increase, the move still saves the district money compared to budget projections, said LaToiya Glass, Rochester schools director of human resources.

The zero-percent increases typify the budgetary hand-wringing at school districts across Minnesota.

Statewide, Education Minnesota reported 107 settlements by Thursday. Average terms include salary increases of 1.04 percent in the first year and 1.16 percent in the second year, which are half of the increases reported during the 2007 contract season.

LINK: Rochester Education Association salary schedule (.pdf)

(Looking at the salary schedule might make it easier to explain steps (years) and lanes (continuing education. It's titled 2008-2009, but under this agreement, it would remain the same. The 2009-2010 school year is part of the new deal.)

Rochester school district trying to leave no couch cushion unturned in budget troubles (UPDATE)

Q: How much will Rochester public schools need to cut next year? A: $4.5 million

Here's our story from last week. (Yes, this stuff went into the paper last week, but I was out sick during the end of last week. So we're going the "It's New to You" route.)

Anyway, two committees are looking at the budget; one, to see how the district can carve away $4.5 million, and the other to suggest how the district might be able to increase revenue.

Here are the meeting times/dates for the revenue committee:

Nov. 18, Dec. 2, Dec. 16 (all at 8 a.m., at the Northrup building, room 308.)

I'll update with the dates/times for the budget reduction committee, once I'm provided with a full schedule. Stay tuned.

UPDATE:

Here are the dates and times for the budget reduction committee meetings:

Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009, 6 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 23, 2009, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec.16, 2009, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2009, 6 p.m. 

All meetings will be at the Edison Administration Building.

LINK: Rochester schools looking at cuts, revenue