leweyg 5 days agoThis Tiger alumni thinks maybe the students should protest and block Lake street until their demand are met - that is the way its done now....right?
Report as inappropriateShare LikeReply stike3 6 days agoLet's start out with an AUDIT! Past spent monies? Current? Future! Who, what, when, where... that is the beginning. Follow the money. "YES" for kids...where is the money going and where was it spent in the past? This info should not be hard to gather. Report as inappropriateShare LikeReply squirrel2009 6 days agoHit up some of the more successful alumni to possibly fill the shortfall gap in funding. ie: Josh Hartnett, Rachael Leigh Cook, Michael Bland and the entire alumni for that matter. We all know the importance of teamwork, extra-curricular participation and how it matters after high school as part of college and career building blocks. Report as inappropriateShare LikeReply jdlellis1 8 days ago One of the challenges for adults is recognizing the potential problems when teenagers do not have co-curricular activities (broader than simply athletics). Idle time with teenagers will result in a plethora of mischievous activities. Parents need to be at the forefront with schools lending a helping hand. Adults need to consider their parental responsibilities before engaging in activities resulting in a child. Despite the prevailing mantra, it is not others responsibility to provide for others children. P.S. The last statement does not apply to those with physical/cognitive disabilities. Report as inappropriateShare 1LikeReply cav1234 8 days ago Graff is responsible for this, as is Board Chair Arneson, and each Board Director. Graff and the Board have made and are making decisions that have a huge impact on South, Washburn, and other K-12 learning communities. Transparency, engagement, accountability, integrity, and good judgment have been lacking, so far, around these decisions. The South community has been working for over a decade to try to engage the District about the safety of and vision for its campus. The adult education building will set in stone South's footprint and thus extinguish the South campus' potential (bounded by the YWCA and then the adult ed building and its parking ramp). As this article ably touches on - but cannot capture the full depth of the situation - the adult ed decision by Graff and the Board blindsided South and everyone else. The District has a lease in the current adult education space (with bus route nearby and all) until 2023. Not a lease for adult ed expiring next year. Not five years from now. Seven more years on their lease. And yet they are putting K-12 education, their core mission, in line behind fast-tracking a $7 million adult ed parking ramp and new $22 million building. This is really appalling. That is all happening right now - this is the responsibility of Graff, Board Chair Arneson, and the rest of the Board. This is not about what kind of Superintendent he will be or whether he will turn things around. This is who he is. There was zero community engagement or transparency around the adult ed decision. And the fact Graff won't make facilities staff available to discuss the decision is proof in the pudding. Classic Minneapolis Public Schools - and now Graff - don't tell anyone about decisions until after they are made - if then - and then say it's a done deal and go run and hide. Worse, Graff and the Board are threatening to betray both South and Washburn. The District has now twice delayed adding promised space at Washburn, the only high school over its capacity in the district and a place where kids and teachers literally - quite literally - don't fit in the space. It is also appalling. See the Southwest Journal article about it this week. Graff and the Board don't seem to want to keep the promises made to Washburn's kids, teachers, and parents either. Graff likes to apologize for the bad process, but he never owns the actual decisions. He says he takes ownership of a total failure of engagement and transparency, but he'll do nothing about addressing the terrible result of the bad process. It does not do South and Washburn any good to be told the process was horrendous but they are stuck an unsafe campus at South and an inadequate learning environment at Washburn. Graff, so far, gives us the worst of both worlds - tells us we're being abused, but, so sorry, he'll does nothing about preventing irreversible injuries. Graff, Chair Arneson, and Board, it is not too late. Delay the adult ed building now and its parking ramp (!) right now. Use the $29 million in funds to meet past promises, and use the delay to engage the community. Report as inappropriateShare 3LikeReply fishing50 8 days ago@cav1234 What a great artical on how the school board really runs. Disfunksion in its worst selfish form they are Very poor leaders ..I am not involved any in any way with education but every time I have talked to someone that is they talk about how in ineffective it is. Report as inappropriateShare 1LikeReply Flash_Gordon 8 days agoBecause my college, Augsburg, didn't have track and field facilities, we trained at South High--first the dirt track at old South and then the state of the art track at "New" South. That was almost 50 years ago. As an MSHSL track official, I am required to inspect the facilities before each meet. Although I have strong feelings for this track, I would refuse to allow a meet to be held there based on the photo. Report as inappropriateShare 3LikeReply raleighmama 8 days agoFar too much importance is placed on high school sports. Public schools are tasked with providing a free education. There is no obligation to provide extracurricular sports. Fees and participation fees should cover the costs along with booster clubs raising money. Report as inappropriateShare 3LikeReply cav1234 8 days ago @raleighmama Saying there is too much emphasis and saying there should be no place for athletics in a public school's mission are two very different things, and I agree with the former but not the latter. And I invite you to compare the emphasis on sports in MPS with suburban districts. There is not too much emphasis in MPS. We don't even have a middle school sports program anymore. And high school athletics are encouraged, but for Friday Night Lights you'll have to look elsewhere. If one believes athletics have positive effects on binding kids to schools (and therefore education) and in healthy physical and emotional development, then completely privatizing public school sports is an idea that puts sports out of reach for all but the very richest schools (and even the very richest will be restricted and have very few opponents to play), and completely shuts out the many communities who cannot possible support sports programs through fees and booster clubs. Being familiar with MPS booster clubs, I can say we work very hard to raise funds that wouldn't scratch the surface in providing for an entire program in even one sport. Report as inappropriateShare 2LikeReply fishing50 8 days ago@cav1234 @raleighmama We need to put even more effort in mpls schools sports and extra curriclur because so many have other struggles. I think they one of the most powerful developement tools at really a bargain by comparason Report as inappropriateShare 1LikeReply ripclaw 8 days agoYet somehow the administration found money to build a brand new office building. I desperately hope Graff can turn this district around. Report as inappropriateShare 2LikeReply cav1234 8 days ago@ripclaw Don't forget 800 West Broadway, a career center, that that District did and is pouring money into. Then they are leasing out the beautiful new space - to other organizations. And having nice Board retreats there when they need to retreat from the new Davis Center. Meanwhile K12 education is shoved back in line. This is happening right now. The South and Washburn decisions are being made right now. This is not future tense for Graff. This is about showing our communities what kind of Superintendent he is and what his values are. Report as inappropriateShare 2LikeReply jdlellis1 8 days agoCo-Curricular programs (Speech/Debate, Athletics, Robotics, Fine Arts, Shooting, etc.) play a key contributing factor in social development of students. In addition the programs bind schools and/or districts together in supporting developing minds/bodies. Report as inappropriateShare 4LikeReply Flicka1492 8 days agoMinneapolis spends more per student than any suburban district. How are their facilities so bad? Report as inappropriateShare 3LikeReply cav1234 8 days ago@Flicka1492 Because Graff, the Board, and District Facilities staff insist on spending $22 million on a new adult education building and $7 million on a parking ramp - yes, $7 million on the adult ed parking ramp - rather than keep their promises and responsibilities to South for a safe campus and Washburn for enough space. They should honor their past promises and K-12 core mission by delaying the adult ed building and its no-doubt beautiful parking ramp and redirecting the $29 million. Report as inappropriateShare 6LikeReply slammer 8 days agoThose would be wants, not needs. Report as inappropriateShare 1LikeReply tuite002 8 days ago@slammer these are basic needs for a high school - a place where the community can also use to run as well when not in use. Even in far off Friday Harbor, San Juan Islands (Washington State) the track and associated facilities are better maintained for far fewer students. Report as inappropriateShare 2LikeReply
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