Carlton board mulls innovative ideas to draw students

The Carlton school board heard bold ideas for getting the district to stand apart from neighboring school systems in an effort to reverse declines in student enrollment Monday.

The committee of the whole took no action, but seemed excited by the creative thoughts.

South Terrace principal Donita Stepan outlined the work of the District Advisory Committee which conceived the concept of a future dual path system for the upper grades.

"[We'll have] a traditional track where students [attend class] day to day, just like they do now, or they can choose a project based track where they're having an opportunity to solve real-world problems during the day," she said. "There's a thousand different ways that can look and those are details to be worked out later. But students will be able to choose one of those tracks."

Stepan envisioned different pathways for the tracks, depending on student needs, including but not limited to pathways in business, health care, environmental science and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and medicine).

"Some of those are courses we currently have, and some of those are courses we could have," Stepan said, projecting widespread participation from teachers to help design curriculum. "What's innovative, what's big, different, [and] unique that we can offer?" she asked.

Stepan added that the advisory committee discussed results of a recent survey, and the overwhelming desire expressed was for art classes to return to the curriculum.

"I've heard about the importance of bringing back art and really trying to figure out a way to embed art inside of our system," she said.

Board chair Julianne Emerson worked to keep the conversation grounded.

"It's probably a good time to just remember why we didn't have art. It wasn't an actual reduction," she said, reminding the board and Stepan that the art position became vacant and the choice was between filling that position or reducing somewhere else.

"What we're seeing is the response from the community," Emerson said. "But I also think you need to be careful. I would just remind you that we have more reductions that we need to come up with, so if we are looking at bringing it back [we] ... would have to have a good reduction elsewhere."

While not wanting to dampen enthusiasm, Superintendent John Engstrom concurred with Emerson.

"The conversation has been very aspirational ... and it's not the role of an [advisory] committee to ... say, 'Well, if we do this, we can't have that,'" he said. "But ... you're right, that we're still in a zero-sum game and maybe even a takeaway game. So ... if we are talking about adding some classes and bringing some back, it's going to be in the context of what comes off. Because that is the world."

Laura Nilsen thought the survey was saying something a little more abstract.

"Based on the survey, I would say the idea of art is very broad," she said.

A conversation ensued about enhancing all subjects with art.

No action was taken and the advisory committee, which conceived the plans, has not completed its proposal and continues to work on the subject.

Also Monday, Emerson announced that a tentative agreement had been reached with the new administrative team scheduled to take over when Engstrom's contract expires in June. According to Engstrom, Warren Peterson would put in the equivalent of three days a week as principal and a yet-to-be-named dean of students would cover the remaining time at the secondary school. South Terrace principal Donita Stepan would move into the superintendent position as well as remain as principal of the elementary school.

The Carlton school board will consider these and other matters at its next regular meeting on Monday, March 20.