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Health & Fitness

Talk of the District: Connections between Strong Schools and Strong Communities

October 25, 2013

I’m often asked, “Why should someone who does not have children in the public schools care about the upcoming levy request?” It’s a good question. Schools are for children and families, right? Actually, studies show that strong communities and strong schools go hand in hand. The benefits of a strong school system include maintaining and increasing property values, providing a qualified workforce, lowering crime rates, creating a strong sense of community, supporting more stable families and enhancing public services with less demand for social programs.

A case in point of these benefits is a recent study of the best communities in the state for young families. This study looked at several key questions, including:

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    • “Does the city have good public schools?” – using academic performance ratings from GreatSchools, which provides school ratings nation-wide.
    • “Can you afford to live there?” – looking at median home values and monthly home costs.
    • “Is the city growing and prospering?” – assessing a city’s economy by looking at medium household income and income growth over the last decade.

    Using these measures, Stillwater was ranked the fifth most family-friendly community in the state. This study and the top ten identified communities can be found atwww.nerdwallet.com/blog/2013/best-cities-minnesota-young-families.

    The St. Croix Valley has a long history of having a strong school district and strong community. There is some fear, however, that we may stand to lose that reputation in light of our funding challenges. Recently, a local realtor shared with me that she was working with two clients who had just transferred to this area. Though they were drawn to Stillwater for its reputation as a strong community with good schools, because of the unknown around the levy, they instructed her to avoid showing properties located within the Stillwater Area Public School District.

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    This is a time of great change for our schools and our communities. Adequate state funding for schools that was present when you and I were young is no longer available. As funding remains relatively flat and operating costs and the rate of inflation increase, the needs of students are also compounding. Students and family demographics are changing, as is the way in which children learn.

    It is the job of school leaders to continue to maintain our strong tradition of excellence while operating under these complex changes and challenges. With this in mind we’ve spent the last 18 months preparing a plan to not only maintain our schools as an important asset to our community, but also make the changes necessary to respond to the world around us. We have a new strategic plan, Bridge to Excellence, in place to help us grow and change to meet the needs of our students. We have also prepared a thoughtful levy proposal based on feedback we’ve received from the community. The proposal has one question, less tax impact than our unsuccessful request two years ago, and includes clear plans for how we would invest new dollars and what the impact would be if the levy failed.

    All of this work has caused us to think differently about the future, and also allowed us to make significant changes in how we operate today. We’ve looked critically at our budget, increased our efficiencies, reduced staff and restructured our workload, and made significant cost savings. We’re a smarter, leaner school district than we have been in the past, and we’re continuing to find ways to be more innovative and efficient in the future.

    The decision to maintain what we have and invest further in our schools and our children is an important one for our community. It is a decision that I hope will not be taken lightly as it not only affects our young people, but also all those who live within our school district boundaries. School board members and district leaders are dedicated to transparency, focused on building trust and committed to following through with what they’ve said they will do.

    If you have not done so already, please take some time to review our website atwww.stillwaterschools.org/levy2013 to learn more about the levy proposal or contact me directly (my contact information is listed below) with any questions that you may have. 

     

    Superintendent Corey Lunn can be contacted via email at lunnc@stillwater.k12.mn.us or by phone at 651-351-8301. Questions can also be sent by mail to Superintendent, Stillwater Area Public Schools, 1875 South Greeley Street, Stillwater, MN 55082. Register for Stillwater Area Public Schools E-News at www.stillwater.k12.mn.us/subscribe.
     

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