9/18/2006 2:30:00 PM Hopkins district considers closing Curren school
By Kelly Westhoff
The elementary school is Hopkins' smallest
Just two days after the school year began, Hopkins School District officials announced the possible closure of Katherine Curren Elementary School.
On Sept. 7, the Hopkins School Board considered a study that outlined the cost savings for the district if an elementary school were shut down.
Because the Hopkins School District needs to cut about $4.25 million from its 2007-08 budget, the district is looking for drastic savings.
The district estimates the closure of Katherine Curren will save the district $645,000. Katherine Curren, in downtown Hopkins, is the smallest of the district's seven elementary schools. It serves about 400 students and employs roughly 60 staff members.
At the Sept. 7 meeting, the School Board directed district administrators to begin the district's procedures for closing a school. The school closing policy outlines steps the district must take before closing a school, including gathering public feedback.
The timeline for gathering that feedback is short, however. The School Board is scheduled to make its final decision on whether to close the school at its Nov. 16 meeting. The deadline for public input is Nov. 7.
Closing Katherine Curren will not solve the district's budget woes. Therefore, the announcement of the board's decision to enact the district's school closing policy is really just the first tough announcement in what will be a year of cut-backs, acknowledged Nik Lightfoot, interim director of administrative services.
The district's seven elementary schools serve about half of the district's student population. The two junior highs and one high school serve the other half, explained Lightfoot.
In an attempt to keep cuts equitable, the district administration asked that $1.6 million be cut from elementary programming. Another $1.6 million will be cut from junior high and high school programming combined, Lightfoot said. About $660,000 will be cut from the junior highs; roughly $680,000 will be cut from the high school.
Yet even if the district achieves these massive cuts in elementary, junior high and high school programming, said Lightfoot, that still doesn't amount to the $4.25 million the district needs to slash.
This means that another $1 million will be cut from district support services. Transportation will suffer cuts, as will athletic programs. Funds for building and grounds maintenance will dwindle, and district administration will lose money as well.
Since the estimated $645,000 savings from closing Katherine Curren will not equal the $1.6 million that needs to be shaved from elementary programming, parents will see further cuts in all the district's elementary schools.
Parents can likely expect cuts in elementary music instruction. Elementary media specialists and counselors could be reduced. The district will also trim Learning Resource Teachers, a group of licensed teachers working to ensure early mastery of reading and math skills. The district's High Five program, a school-readiness program for 5-year-olds too young to make the kindergarten cut off, could suffer as well.
Possible cuts in junior high and high school programming have yet to be announced.
The district points to declining enrollment as one reason for the school closing. According to the district's Web site, Hopkins has experienced a steady drop in enrollment since 2000. Student enrollment is expected to hold steady over the next two years before falling again.
An active open-enrollment program has helped the district bolster its number of students. In the 2005-06 school year, 1,144 students open enrolled into the district whereas only 503 Hopkins students opted to transfer to other districts.
Amy Senser is an Edina resident with two children attending Katherine Curren. "Even though we live in Edina, we are in the Hopkins district," she explained. "All of our neighbors open-enrolled their children into Edina schools, but we didn't do that."
She said, "We purposefully chose to send our kids to Katherine Curren. We specifically chose it for its close-knit atmosphere and its diversity."
Because of its location in the district, Katherine Curren serves a large portion of the area's immigrant population. "In our global society," said Senser, "I want that diverse experience for my children."
She added, "Katherine Curren is small but mighty. It's such a purposeful, little school. If this moves forward, the human impact will be real. It will be tragic. These are real kids, real people."
While Senser values the diversity at Katherine Curren, she also acknowledges it could hinder the school's ability to create an uproar. Translating information into Somali and Spanish about the possible closure could take weeks, she said. Plus, since many parents within those immigrant communities are new to the United States, they may not know they have the right to speak up or protest the district's move.
It's hard to keep her emotions at bay, Senser admitted. "The sad piece is, is that I absolutely understand the importance of being fiscally sound. The district is between a rock and a hard place. I'm just so upset that it's come to this. And as I understand it, there are more cuts still to come."
Senser attended a parent meeting on Sept. 12. It was the first she, and many of the other parents in attendance, had heard about the possible closure of the school. "We were there to get the facts" she said, "but really, it generated more questions than answers.
"Has the district considered the impact this will have on the surrounding community? The downtown businesses?" Senser asked. "I patronize the downtown area because I'm there to pick up my kids, but if I get rerouted, I won't be going to that Dairy Queen anymore. Those downtown businesses are going to suffer."
Senser also wonders what to tell her children. Last week, she said, her fifth-grade daughter, in tears, asked her: "Mommy, what if we have a lemonade stand everyday? Will we make enough to save the school?"
Two public hearings to take place
Concerned parents and residents may provide comments by Nov. 7 via e-mail at elementary_closing@hopkins.k12.mn.us or by calling 952-988-4128.
Two public hearings will be held. The first is Monday, Oct. 30; the second is Monday, Nov. 13. Both begin at 7 p.m.
Further information can be found on the district's Web site, www.hopkins.k12.mn.us. Click "budget" on the right-hand side.
