Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Enrollment continues to decline in ISD 831, according to figures released by the school district last week.

The school board meeting in regular session on Thursday, Sept. 6 learned that the first week enrollment tally for grades K-12 was 7159, according to figures compiled on that day.

That compares to the 2006 first-week tally of 7331. The new first-week tally is a decline of 172 students from the 2006 head count.

The new head count taken last week is three more students than the 7156 students who were recorded in district enrollment totals on June 1, 2007, the last week for an enrollment count in the 2006-2007 school year.

A major drop in students at the high school is partly to blame. The district now has 1820 students registered and attending the top three grades.

That compared to 1923 who enrolled at the school at the same point in 2006. By the time school ended last spring, the high school enrollment had dropped to 1773 students.

Junior high enrollment has remained stable.

On Sept. 7, 2006, the district recorded 1715 students in grades 7-9. On Sept. 6, 2007, the grade 7-9 total was 1719.

At the elementary level, the district is showing a decline of 89 students. A year ago, the district had 3603 students in its K-6 buildings, compared to 3514 this fall.

Only two of the elementary schools has recorded gains. Forest Lake Elementary is up two students from 336 a year ago to 338 this fall, while Forest View has gained three pupils, going from 587 a year ago to 590 this year.

Other elementary schools did not increase.

Columbus dropped from 447 to 438. Lino Lakes fell from 415 to 384. Linwood fell from 542 to 510. Scandia declined from 474 to 467. Wyoming declined from 627 to 622 while the Montessori School lost nine students, going from 170 students to 161 pupils this fall.

IT Needs listed

When students in the Forest Lake High School industrial technology program stepped into the spotlight with a home building project a year ago, they earned new visibility for what was once a shop program in the eyes of many.

The house building project will continue again this fall with a student team almost selected, IT teacher Kevin Rivard told the school board last week.

Teachers Rivard, Kelly Nichols and Phil Sunblad spoke to the board on Sept. 6 as part of the district’s ongoing curriculum review cycle to outline programs, progress and needs for the secondary level IT program.

While enrollment totals in IT classes are creeping up, the teachers said facilities are cramped and it is becoming more difficult for students to work IT classes into their schedules.

Enrollment is growing despite the fact there are fewer classes today, the teachers said.

The teachers also listed a series of IT recommendations for school board consideration. They include:

•A computer update at Southwest Junior High School to bring the school on par with equipment at Century Junior High School.

•Obtain drafting software to meet the needs of junior high students.

•Address air quality concerns in the high school power mechanics lab.

•Address facility limitations due to increasing student enrollment at junior and senior high schools.

•Establish a plan for repair and replacement of old and worn out equipment.

•Maintain safe work environment for students and instructors in labs.

•Visit other off-campus sites, such as schools and industry to keep IT staff and students aligned with current trends.

•Update technology in classrooms.

AYP review

While a number of schools in ISD 831 fell short of making Adequate Yearly Progress under state and federal No Child Left Behind reporting and testing requirements, officials in Forest Lake believe they will receive a more definitive measure on how students are performing when results from the NWEA evaluation and a district academic audit are delivered.

Dr. Lloyd Komatsu, district testing and assessment coordinator, said he will spend time looking for test result comparisons from the 2006 report to the 2007 report. With only one year to draw comparisons on, Dr. Komatsu predicted better comparison methods would be available a year from now.

The AYP report wasn’t all bad news, Komatsu said.

While Forest View and Linwood elementary schools were added to the AYP list for the first time, the high school, Century Junior High, the ALC and Wyoming Elementary all reported cells not making AYP. The district is also on the not making AYP list because of special education in reading.

It was in special education reading and math where cell groups of students failed to record AYP.

Both Linwood and Forest View are Title I schools that receive federal funding.

The good news was seen at Southwest Junior High School which is now removed from the list of schools making progress in reading and math.

In contrast, Komatsu said 80 percent of students in Grade 3 are proficient in reading.

At the high school, Komatsu said a poor test result in Grade 11 mathematics is in part to blame by the fact that juniors at the high school last spring had yet to be introduced to the algebra I, geometry and algebra II testing that they faced in the MCA-II.

In the past, he said, juniors have had the opportunity to take the math classes but have not so because they were not required. New high school graduation requirements have been implemented to keep up with the test.

Only 32.5 percent of Forest Lake juniors were proficient in math compared to 32.2 percent at the state level.

Schools that make AYP are on track to reach the goal of all children being proficient by the year 2014. The Minnesota Department of Education determines whether specific state schools and districts are on track.

While board members theorized over the fairness of including special education students in a group measure, Komatsu said it has been an area frequently “left behind.”

The coordinator agreed with board member Eric Langness who lobbied for a testing comparison of the large metro area school districts that Forest Lake uses for many comparison purposes. Komatsu said he would work to obtain those comparative figures.

Lynn Steenblock, superintendent, said he believes the district will gain a stronger evaluation with the completion of the academic audit and the NWEA assessment. He agreed there “are issues” to address, but added that the MCA-II test “is basically a snap shot in the spring of the year.”

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