Cloquet residents, school staff plan for the future

Before the start of Monday's community planning session, all of the Cloquet School Board members and school administrators went home.

That was deliberate, explained consultant Bruce Miles.

"We want to make sure people feel completely comfortable and confident [in sharing their opinions]," he said. "The school board and admin team get the opportunity to make decisions about the school district all the time. This is your time."

About 45 people attended the strategic planning session, which sought input for the district's next strategic plan. Rather than asking for input for a plan that was already laid out for the district, the district asked for general input from participants.

Reasons for attending varied. Melanie McDowell, CHS class of 1998, came because she has a son in the Early 5s program and thought she should get involved. Former superintendent and current Cloquet Educational Foundation Board member Russ Smith said he came because CEF wants to know what kind of programming people would like to see in the district. Many people had kids in the schools, and some came because they wanted a voice.

To start, participants split into small groups to discuss perceived school district success and issues over the past five years, both from intended and unintended actions or events.

Positive answers included the new middle school building and its thoughtful layout, adding new curriculum (especially at the middle school level), updated technology, vocational education moving in the right direction (more of it), wide variety of extracurriculars, the tutor program, adding restorative justice to the schools, the school resource officer, innovative grant programs and more.

On the flip side - "less than positive" - were some of the same topics like technology (too much screen time, no wi-fi access at home) and vocational education (the district needs more options). Other negatives cited by community members included transportation/busing issues, lack of mental health services, student behavioral issues and code of conduct, accountability, large class sizes, closing the achievement gap, parking issues at all of the schools, missing the orchestra program, lunch options, high taxes, drug use and its effect on students, vaping problems, too much focus on testing and not offering the neighboring Carlton school district a "bail out."

Next community members worked to identify goals/visions and priorities for the school district. Finally they used colored dots to indicate which issues were most important to them after the extended list was written on large sheets.

Sixth grader Conner Tibbetts - there with Boy Scout Troop 171 - liked the meeting.

"They actually take what your thinking into consideration, it's not just people talking to you," he said.

SUBHED: The next step

The community meeting was one step in a month-long information gathering process that started with different online surveys for community members (74 responded) and staff (78), then continued with staff sessions at each school Monday and concluded with the community meeting that night.

After the survey and each session Monday, Miles quickly consolidated and summarized the input from the various groups and shared it with the next group with the assistance of the district's Bonnie Monfeldt.

Miles pointed out that groups prioritized issues differently: for example, staff said the district should prioritize adding co-curricular activities like technology and arts opportunities and more clubs and organizations or even marching band, while residents prioritized adding athletic programs like boys swimming, lacrosse and cheerleading over co-curriculars.

No opinion is more valid than the other, he stressed.

On Tuesday he synthesized all the suggestions and complaints gathered over the past month and presented the school board and administrative team with a 19-page results packet.

The board and administrators then held their own brainstorming session - using the same methods of small groups developing lists and ideas, then dots to prioritize - but building off of the suggestions of the staff and community.

The small groups came up with a list of about 20 vision items, including things like a community wellness center, mental health services, early childhood and pre-kindergarten development, manageable class sizes, supports and opportunities for students of all abilities, increased vocational education opportunities and, along the same lines, making sure all students exit school with the skills and direction to be successful, among other things.

Conversation about ideas flowed freely, with staff and board members contributing thoughts on different issues and possible goals, or visions, for the district. One person mentioned making the elementary schools serve grades K-2 in one school and 3-5 in another. Someone else talked about creating a principal-level position to oversee the early childhood level classes. Gifted and talented programming came up, as did busing. More than one board member talked about making sure existing space was being used effectively. Many more ideas were discussed.

From there they narrowed the list to six ideas to be developed further:

Creating a day treatment program in Cloquet. This would serve students who need combined mental health counseling and teaching every day. Currently Cloquet and other neighboring districts have to transport and pay for students to go to Duluth every school day for this programming.

Curriculum director and literacy coaches with American Indian curriculum specialties;

Upgrade district facilities and create a wellness center;

Four-year-old kindergarten and licensed pre-K staff;

Strengthen Career and Technical Education (CTE) paths for students;

Maintain facilities, align and prioritize funds to programming.

Superintendent Michael Cary thanked community members and staff for their input and said he hoped people would see that district leaders heard them, and are prioritizing things "that will position Cloquet for success."

Board member Duane Buytaert said the board will continue to look at the input put forth by staff and community.

"There are a lot of ideas and comments in the whole plan," Buytaert said. "Just because it didn't trickle to the top doesn't mean it won't get looked at and acted on."

Cary said district staff will work to develop the ideas prioritized in Tuesday's meeting next.