[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: Upon Further Review: Closing Sandburg

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
Upon Further Review: Closing Sandburg
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1235535613.shtml


   In District 281, the second legally required public hearing on closing
   a school building was held Monday night, at Sandburg Middle School.
   The plan adopted January 20th calls for closing Sandburg by moving
   most students to an expanded Robbinsdale Middle School operation,
   using space vacated by Robbinsdale Spanish Immersion (RSI) moving to
   the Sunny Hollow building. Meanwhile, auxiliary programs like ECFE
   (Early Childhood Family Education) and Community Education will be
   consolidated to Sandburg from various other buildings long since used
   as schools.
   This group was a bit smaller than at Pilgrim Lane, but I think better
   prepared and more eloquent. As I've posted, I like the Wold K-5
   solution vs. the others they and others developed the past 16 months.
   And yet, I think these concerned citizens made enough of a point for
   the Board to research yet one more alternative.
   As one speaker noted, the Board should not only consider what can be
   done now, but also where we want to wind up, say, three years from
   now. Closing Plymouth Middle School never made any sense in any
   scenario, but of the other two, which would you rather keep open long
   term - Robbinsdale or Sandburg? Clearly, that answer is Sandburg. It
   was built as a middle school and has better facilities, including a
   swimming pool. It's location within the District is certainly
   workable.
   This is largely what the "Two Phase" solution was about, waiting to
   see what happens with enrollment before making this decision. But this
   was otherwise an incomplete solution and required a second wave of
   boundary changes that the public clearly does not want. "Do it once,"
   the Board heard repeatedly. So to keep all three going short term as
   some proposed seems unrealistic.
   As I reread the documents, maybe we're at the point where Sandburg and
   Plymouth can shoulder the load this fall, a slight overload at most.
   If so, then the Robbinsdale Area Learning Center (RALC) can house the
   auxiliary programs. RSI still should move, but the elementary area in
   the RALC it used should be suitable for ECFE now, another plus.
   I don't know what the dollar effect would be, but if both stay open
   and just swap roles, I suspect the differences are small and
   manageable.
   That said, the community has to continue to step forward to push this
   if it's going to work. The community will need to convince the Board
   that they're willing to endure a little overcrowding for now. They may
   have to sanction increasing class sizes by maybe 2 or 3 for now.
   I think it's worth pursuing, to at least think a second time on this
   one facet of an otherwise sound plan.