Pioneer Press 06/12/2008 05:15:14 AM GMT
Mounds View / Schools explore diversity options
Faced with ever-changing student demographics, Mounds View Public Schools officials have decided to explore an integration collaboration with neighboring districts. Mounds View is not a member of an integration district รข€" which offer voluntary desegregation programs for public schools. But the interest and need have been growing, said curriculum coordinator RoAnne Elliott. Though Mounds View is a predominantly white district, the number of nonwhite students has grown steadily. The percentage of white students was about 84 percent for the 2001-02 school year and 76 percent for 2007-08. "We've been thinking about diversity for a long time, and we are very much aware of our own data in terms of the changing needs of students we have," Elliott said. "We're now thinking about, what kinds of resources do we need?" The district will team up with the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale and Mahtomedi school districts to study the idea. A formal collaboration has not been formed, but it's on the horizon. Mounds View officials created a task force about three months ago to review options. That was shortly after the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale district announced in January it was going to withdraw from the East Metro Integration District. North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale officials said then they would explore partnerships with neighboring districts. It was not a criticism of the East Metro Integration District or its programs, they said, but rather an effort to create a more tailor-made program.
[[keywords: Schools;Maplewood;]]
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