| Schools agree to broaden sharing opportunities |
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They did not actually discuss consolidating, but board officials of neighboring school districts Willow River, Moose Lake, and Barnum did agree on December 1 to seek improved and increased options for sharing teaching staff and course offerings. “We’re all proud of our three districts and staff, and to have them all interact better together is a plus,” said Tim Caroline, Superintendent of Moose Lake Schools. The joint meeting was initially requested in September by the Moose Lake School Board in a letter asking the boards “to determine whether or not consolidating two or more of our districts would be in everyone’s best interest.” It also questioned “whether or not our region will be able to continue to support three independent school districts in the years ahead.” Caroline noted last week, however, that after hearing from some constituents, “Apparently there is more interest in working more closely with what is being done now.” He asked the boards, “What more could we do?” He opened the meeting at Barnum High School with an overview of current cooperative efforts among the schools. Calendars and schedules were coordinated two years ago when the trio began sharing some staff and course offerings for students who were transported by Moose Lake van to the school sites, which are situated along a 16 mile stretch on Highway 61 near the Pine County and Carlton County line. Shared courses include Social Studies, Chemistry and Physics, Business, and Health Occupations. The schools also share Psychology, Speech, and Physical Therapy services. Caroline noted that Moose Lake and Willow River have a long-standing Rebels athletic union and in 2002 added Barnum students to its Cross Country roster. The area hockey association is also open to Cromwell and East Central students. Barnum Superintendent Dave Bottem commented on the current and unsatisfactory status of the shared courses and said, “Realistically we have five students who move among the buildings. That’s not a good success rate.” He looks to expanding course offerings to challenge students and keep them from using the Post Secondary Enrollment Options at nearby colleges. “We want them to stay in one of the three schools, rather than go to PSEO at Fond du Lac or Duluth,” said Bottem. “The handful of kids have benefited from the joint effort thus far,” said Caroline. “I think there are areas we can expand on.” Bottem read from a list of possible course offerings devised by the three superintendents prior to the meeting. Potential shared courses include: second language, industrial technology, auto mechanics, business classes, expanded social studies, upper level sciences, advanced math, college writing, expanded music and arts, natural resources, and human anatomy. Caroline queried whether any of the courses can be readily scheduled and said, “We need the expertise and advice from counselors and principals.” He suggested that administration from the schools produce possible scenarios for scheduling new courses and ensure that staff is properly licensed to teach upper level coursework. Caroline raised the issue of better communication in alerting students of courses available. When it comes to scheduling classes, “We need to improve our communication.” He also suggested renaming the program of shared classes, maybe replacing school names with a more comprehensive phrase like, “vocational courses.” Students might be more willing to take a shared course if the school site is unidentified in the course list. Willow River Superintendent Lynette Maas suggested the schools offer courses within a block of hours, either in the morning or afternoon, rather than allowing students to choose courses based on where the courses are offered. Moose Lake board member Lesly Ramey pointed out that the “world is regional now,” and people need to “get away from separating schools.” She urges the schools to “join for strength” in grant writing and in offering courses. “The key is transportation,” said Moose Lake board chair Julie Peterson. “We need to get enough kids together in one place to make it worthwhile for the teacher to teach.” Currently the few students drive themselves to the schools for classes. Bottem suggested that the districts look at swapping teachers, rather than students. However, if enough students enter the program and need transportation, Bottem estimates the annual cost of transporting students would be about $25,000. When the cost is split three ways, he said, “That’s not much.” Caroline says that the cost would “save us in the long run” rather than losing students, along with per student state funding, to PSEO. “The more we can move together, the better economically for us all.” In an effort to diminish apprehension about attending classes at other schools, Bottem suggested the districts each hold an orientation day during which high school students gain firsthand knowledge of each school’s functions and surroundings. Caroline talked of combining duties of each school’s curriculum department, to avert duplication of tasks in researching and choosing courses and textbooks. He questioned, “Would there be greater efficiency in working together?”. Maas agreed that honing tasks and sharing textbooks would be helpful. “We’re all exploring the same areas.” She cautioned that it would take time to transition and align the cycle of books used at each school. Other sharing opportunities were raised from board members. Dana Miletich of Barnum suggested sharing administrative functions while attempting to “keep our autonomy.” Tia Grutkoski of Willow River suggested offering advanced technology or using an online technical center. “The only cost savings we have is to work together,” said Ramey. Lenore Skoglund of Barnum said, “Let’s move forward.” The meeting ended with a collective agreement that each district separately discuss the options raised over sharing curriculum duties and expanding and scheduling course offerings in the future. The boards look to the annual joint in-service in January at Barnum as a time to further discussions. A follow-up joint board meeting was tentatively set for sometime after the in-service.
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