MINOT — Residents got a look at proposed new boundaries throughout the Minot Public School system, and responded to them, during an MPS informational session Monday evening. The public gathering was held at the Cognizant building on the northwest edge of the city, the structure scheduled to be converted to the system’s second high school by the beginning of the 2024 school year.
With an overwhelming 84% approval, voters last December decided a second high school was warranted, along with construction updates at both Magic City and Central Campuses to accommodate a growing number of students. The addition of a second high school, and the conversion of Central Campus into a third middle school, grades 6-8, created the need for proposed new district boundaries for elementary, middle, and high schools.
Superintendent of Schools Mark Vollmer opened the informational session, telling the 55-60 attendees that their feedback was vital for the process.
“It’s important we get input how people feel about these proposed boundary changes,” said Vollmer. “We have to have a starting point. This is the beginning of a very long process ahead of us.”
Rob Schwartz, planner, RSP Architects, Kansas City, Kansas, used several slides to explain the reason for the location of proposed boundaries, several of which included current enrollment, projected enrollments, and school building capacities.
“We want people to know what the boundaries look like as we change the grade configuration and the number of facilities that serve students.”Rob Schwartz, RSP Architects planner
“We want people to know what the boundaries look like as we change the grade configuration and the number of facilities that serve students,” said Schwartz.
Vollmer said an area of concern for him was the North Hill area of the city, the same area where the new high school is situated.
“We anticipate more and more building in that part of town,” said Vollmer. “We have one elementary school in north Minot, Lewis and Clark, which is already at capacity.”
Lewis and Clark enrollment is at 500 students, well over the school’s intended capacity. Edison and Sunnyside elementary schools have similar enrollment problems that are projected to worsen in the years ahead.
“It’s not that we’re out of capacity in our elementary schools,” explained Vollmer. “What we have to do is reallocate our students, so we are using our buildings to their best potential.”
“What we have to do is reallocate our students, so we are using our buildings to their best potential.” Mark Vollmer, MPS superintendent
A goal to achieve with new district boundary lines is to have enrollment at each MPS school at 75-100% of capacity. Achieving that goal is a difficult task. However, said Vollmer, converting Central Campus to a third middle school, joining Jim Hill and Eric Ramstad, is a big step toward improving student flow in the city.
“Bringing Central Campus on as our third middle school is going to allow us to equalize the size of our three in town and allow us an incredible opportunity to have room for growth. That’s where we want to be,” said Vollmer.
Central Campus currently serves grades 9-10. Elementary schools are grades 1-5, middle schools ahead will be grades 6-8, and the two high schools grades 9-12.
“Magic City Campus is now at 920 students, Central Campus at 1,200,” said Vollmer. “These larger classes are just working their way up. We anticipate in three or four years we’ll have 200 more high school kids. We’ll have the space for them.”
A “feeder” system is incorporated into the proposed boundaries, which is a flow chart for students and parents navigating through the school system. In general, it maps out the progression of schools for a student, based on their address within the city, from elementary to middle school to high school. Some bottlenecks are to be expected, such as funneling students from several elementary schools into three middle schools and then to two high schools.
However, assured Vollmer, citizen input and proper planning should achieve the balance sought by the school system.
“We’ll have a good product because we’ve got good people at the table who are willing to talk,” said Vollmer. “Rob Schwartz is amazing. He has that ability to track out where we anticipate we’re going to be. He gets it. He understands it. He’s done this work all over the nation.”
Anyone interested in making their input known regarding school boundary revision is encouraged to visit the Minot Public Schools website where access to proposed boundary maps and comment forms are available.
No name, or mascot, has been chosen yet for the city’s newest high school. Vollmer said information on that process is forthcoming with an approximate deadline of May 1.
