The final version of the proposed Comprehensive District Design has been published. The full details are available here https://www.cdd.mpls.k12.mn.us. There is a great deal of information available on this district site and we encourage you to take the time to familiarize yourself with the many proposed changes. The school board has delayed the vote on the final CDD proposal until May 12.
The major changes proposed for Lake Harriet Community School are as follows:
-
LHCS would go from a k-8 school to a k-5 elementary school. This change is consistent with the move to all k-5, 6-8, 9-12 modeled community schools throughout the district. (Exceptions to this are k-8 magnet schools at Jefferson and Sullivan. Lake Harriet families would be able to apply for placement at those magnets if they wish.)
-
LHCS-zoned students would attend Anthony Middles School (grades 6-8) starting in the Fall 2021/2022, and all Anthony students would then attend Southwest High School.
-
The LHCS boundary line would change on the southeast corner of the LHCS current boundary. Beginning with Fall 2021/2022, Minnehaha Creek would serve as the dividing line between the LHCS boundary and the Armatage School boundary. This would impact current LHCS families living south of the creek.
As the LHCS Site Council CDD Task Force, we have been committed to representing the thoughts and concerns of the community as they pertain to the district's proposed Comprehensive District Design and advocating on behalf of LHCS whenever possible. This has been a challenging process, as the views within our community vary widely as they pertain to the goals, objectives and impacts of the the CDD. Given the diverse viewpoints within our community, we have done our best to advocate when possible and communicate the many questions and concerns as they were brought to our attention.
In February, after much consideration, we created a survey to try and better gauge community perspective and identify points of unity. We heard from 225 people within our community as of 4/2/2020. The survey results can be found via the link below. We have included a representative sample of the various open-ended comments to give you a better sense of the many perspectives within out community. Some of you have expressed frustration that we, as a task force, have not taken a stronger stance with regard to support or opposition of the CDD. We hope that sharing representative samples of the open-ended responses will illustrate why finding a shared point of view to represent our LHCS community has been so challenging.
As a task force, we remain committed to representing all LHCS families and their various perspectives. We also remain committed to advocating whenever possible. We have been in touch with our board representative, Ira Jordain, and the at-large board members and the appropriate representatives within MPS leadership to advocate for the families that have been redrawn into the Armatage boundary. We are asking that they strongly consider letting the small number of families who currently attend LHCS be grandfathered into LHCS through 5th grade. We feel this request is feasible from an enrollment standpoint and would not impact any greater goal or objective of the CDD. The full survey results have also been shared with these same individuals.
Again, the board will be taking the next several weeks to review the proposed plan and are scheduled to vote on April 28th. As always, you are encouraged to reach out to our board representatives to ensure your voice is heard.
Thank you and stay well,
LHCS Site Council CDD Task Force
Jason Burgmaier
Scott Devens
Mekea Duffy
Kate Kerfoot