Carlton commits to innovative curriculum

Carlton school board members voted unanimously Monday on a path forward that appears to be unique in Carlton County.

At its regular board meeting, superintendent-elect Donita Stepan summarized the new finalized strategic plan. She envisions making Carlton “the leader in educational transformation,” a phrase which headlined the handout she showcased to the board. The new plan will switch the Carlton school district to two lines of learning: one with a traditional curriculum, and another which follows a project-based progression. Students and their parents could choose either, but Stepan predicts most students would eventually move to the project-based option.

Stepan outlined what she called the “pathways to success,” listing courses in business, liberal arts, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and health care. These courses would make up the backbone of either track and thereby provide the educational requirements of a high school education.

The traditional track would feature 50-minute classes, a seven-period day, and traditional instruction. The project-based track would involve pathway-aligned project-based instruction, real-world authentic opportunities, and flexible schedules with included collaboration time. Students would work in teams and be encouraged to solve community issues.

The board was enthusiastic about the new direction, even though it will take some time to unfold. The project-based track will not be implemented until the 2024-2025 school year. The approval came on a unanimous voice vote.

Generating the most excitement was a plan to offer Exploratory Options starting next year, which would be short courses up to 10 lessons apiece that teachers could offer and students could choose based on their interests. Examples included snowmobile safety, hockey officiating, and restaurant management, with an emphasis on, according to Stepan, “community involvement, citizenship, and the real world.”

Stepan was delighted by the response from teachers. “I've never experienced a staff so willing to change and do something different for the sake of students,” she said.

Current superintendent John Engstrom was equally impressed by the reaction from staff. “Response [from teachers was] ‘where do I sign up?’ and ‘can we do more?’ That is pretty cool," he said.

The new system was conceived to help counter years of declining enrollment for the Carlton school district. For this school year, 2022-23, Carlton projected a loss of 52 students, which is significant for a district with only 338 children.

With board approval, Stepan feels that planning can be more focused since the work can now be fully devoted to implementation.

Legislation likely helpful

In the superintendent’s report, Engstrom spoke about the actions of the legislature and the direct effect on Carlton.

With the education bill emerging from conference committee, there is a near certainty the state will allow school districts to renew operating levies with board action only. This means Carlton will not have to go to the voters to get another seven years tacked onto the current levy, which needs to be renewed this year in order to continue. The board could still consider an increase to the levy and that extra amount would have to be approved in a referendum. Board chair Julianne Emerson indicated the matter would be discussed at the next finance committee meeting in June.

Engstrom mentioned the new state funding formula of 4 percent for next year and 2 percent for the following one. This means state aid would increase by those amounts. In later years, the formula will increase by an inflationary factor, from 2-3 percent.

Lastly, the legislature proposes to increase the special education cross-subsidy, which is significant for Carlton. State and federal governments mandate special education programs but come nowhere near fully funding them, so the difference must be made up by local districts by taking money from their general fund. Districts that have larger special education needs or limited commercial real estate to tax therefore suffer. The state currently sends school districts a little over 6 percent of special education cross-subsidy funding to help with those costs. The legislature proposes to increase that amount to 44 percent each year.

Coaches selected

In other action Monday, the board approved teacher hires and named several coaches for next year, including Barb Soukkala as head coach for the combined varsity volleyball team and Emma Grover for girls basketball. A number of assistant coaches were named. Board member Laura Nisen asked why volleyball has three coaches, including the head coach.

“We think the volleyball numbers are actually going to be somewhere in the area of 60 kids,” Engstrom responded.