4-27-2001

I am a parent of 3 students in the district. I have an elementary teaching license but have chosen to volunteer in the schools my children attend until they are grown. I've been involved in the community effort to slow the district's long range planning so that more community feed-back can be considered. I appreciate the willingness of the board and administration to do this and have been inspired by the creative ideas that have emerged.

I'm most attracted to plans that put cuts in administrative budgets 
before closing neighborhood elementary schools. Waiting on new text books or staff development for elementary school teachers has less of an impact on education than closing any neighborhood school.

A good teacher, likes to learn, cares a great deal about kids, and 
loves to teach. Teachers with these qualities get most of the 
support they need by working in a small neighborhood school. With a manageable class size and volunteer support, they are able to bond with all students and are able to find ways to help them keep pace with any difficult material. Close a neighborhood elementary school and you lose neighborhood volunteers and a kind of intimacy in the school environment. With fewer mothers at home these days, intimacy in the school environment is more important than ever.

When all reasonable cuts have been made in the administrative budget, and schools must be closed to meet budget shortfalls, I think it most sensible to consider closing high schools before middle schools or elementary schools. This approach is in step with the normal process of advancing our children toward independence. We slowly let them satellite further and further from their family and neighborhood until they feel comfortable navigating their way through the world at large as young adults. So it is that a high school student is much better suited to dealing with the challenges of a bigger school community that's farther from home than an elementary student.

I think it's time to close one of the high schools in Duluth. This 
change will invoke fear in many parents and students, but many of us are willing to stay calm on the wave of that change and are willing 
to ride it out with sensitive deliberation to a place of financial 
stability for our school district. In the next school board 
election, my husband and I will be looking for candidates that are 
willing to make the move to 2 high schools. We will support those 
candidates with our votes, with editorials, and in any other way we 
can.

Respectfully Yours,

MA