I have heard the rumblings since I moved to the area. “A lot of kids in the district open enroll to Orono.” “A lot of kids in the district open enroll to Orono…but a lot of Orono kids open enroll here so it’s a wash.” Until recently, I had never researched the numbers for myself. Upon doing so, the results I found are quite unsettling. First, according to the MN Dept of Education, Westonka school district has been losing enrollment since school year ’95-’96:
1996 2428 2002 2241 2008 2249
1997 2435 2003 2268 2009 2232
1998 2409 2004 2272 2010 2030
1999 2396 2005 2250 2011 2029
2000 2354 2006 2264 2012 2035
2001 2299 2007 2263 2013 2015
Further, Westonka school district does the worst job of any area district at retaining students who live within their district:
School District | Resident Pupil Units | Adjusted Pupil Units | Adjusted Pupil Units/ Pupil Units |
001 Minneapolis | 51412.25 | 37390.8 | 73% |
270 Hopkins | 8266.05 | 8376.69 | 101% |
271 Bloomington | 12125.4 | 11788.42 | 97% |
272 Eden Prairie | 11034.52 | 11033.52 | 100% |
273 Edina | 8506.2 | 9683.43 | 114% |
276 Minnetonka | 8617.07 | 10341.77 | 120% |
277 Westonka | 2922.47 | 2584.21 | 88% |
278 Orono | 2445.67 | 3133.86 | 128% |
279 Osseo | 26643.53 | 23830.73 | 89% |
280 Richfield | 5360.75 | 4839.41 | 90% |
281 Robbinsdale | 14255.39 | 13954.6 | 98% |
282 St Anthony | 1105.39 | 2038.05 | 184% |
283 St Louis Park | 4856.35 | 5122.35 | 105% |
284 Wayzata | 11419.38 | 12220.99 | 107% |
286 Brooklyn Center | 1684.69 | 2449 | 145% |
Source: Hennepin County Taxpayer Services
The chart above is simple to follow. Residential Pupil Units indicates the potential enrollment from within a district's borders. Adjusted Pupil Units, indicates how well a district is capturing potential pupils from within its borders as well as attracting open enrollment. If the second column figure is lower than the first column figure, the district is a net loser of enrollment. At 88%, Westonka School District 277, has some analysis to do, yet we never hear about this dynamic!
If elected by you to the Westonka School Board on November 8, I promise to delve into this long-term and important issue to find causes, answers and create a plan to reverse this disturbing trend.
Pupil Unit definitions:
http://law.justia.com/codes/minnesota/2010/120-129B/126C/126C_05.html
https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/statutes/?id=126C.05&year=2009&format=pdf
Give the graph below which was constructed by the MN Dept of Education and its meaning a few moments of consideration:
If we would have been located on the Shirley Hills side of town, we would have chosen to open enroll our kids in Orono schools - because who wants to spend their day in that gross building year after year. The current state of Westonka facilities are a big part of the reason folks open enroll elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteFalse & speculative, 6:02! Please review the comments in this post:
ReplyDeletehttp://dreambigwestonka.blogspot.com/2011/10/b-team-has-been-delivering-grade-b.html
Also, if it is the "gross building" causing people to leave, why have students been leaving since 1996, as indicated in the stats in this post above??? Why do high school students leave?? It's 1/2 the age of Shirley Hills.
Which board members have been around the longest without correcting these issues?
We left too. Had nothing to do with facilities but everything to do with the bullheads "in charge." Have another cup of Kevin coolaid if you want to blame the buildings.
ReplyDeleteMaybe this is why people leave?
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/APHonor-Roll
We chose to open enroll our kids out of the Westonka District. Our decision was not based on the condition of the buildings; it was based on what was happening inside the buildings. We had our fill of teaching only to the test. My kids were not being challenged and, even after giving the district almost an entire school year to do something, nothing was resolved. Roadblocks and excuses were handed out by both administrators and teachers. We are now in a district that has true advanced courses and programs and our kids are challenged and treated like the individuals they are. Also, sending 8th graders to the high school with 18 yr old adults is just wrong.
ReplyDelete