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September 26, 2003
"Take Note" Correction: Sanford Middle School
We inadvertently shortened an important "Take Note" (Sept. MN Journal) regarding the Minneapolis School District's recent decisions regarding the Sanford School. The full text should read as follows.
Usually school districts propose closing schools to
save money. However, after having spent more than $6 million to fix up the Sanford Middle School building over the last several years, the Minneapolis Public Schools are discussing closing the school, and then building a new $ 25-35 million building further south.
According to the Northwest Achievement tests that the District uses, over the last 4 years, the percentage of Sanford's "continuously enrolled students" making at least a year's worth of progress in reading and math has increased. At the same time, the percentage of Mpls Public School students making at least a year's worth of progress in reading and math has decreased slightly.
With help from Cargill, the Center for School Change at the Humphrey Institute has been working with this school over this period to help improve achievement and family involvement. We, and many others, wonder, what kind of message is the district giving to the Sanford faculty, parents and students, who are showing improvements? At a time when Minneapolis insists that it does not have enough money, why is it proposing to close the school and then spend another $25-35 million on another building? This controversy helps explain the frustration that leads to educators and families to create new options, such as charter schools.
Our apologies to Joe Nathan, who submitted the "Take Note."
Posted by Sean Kershaw at September 26, 2003 05:10 AM
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