11/3/2009 8:10:01 AM

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By Brett Boese

Post-Bulletin, Red Wing MN 

RED WING -- Monday's decision to dramatically alter the education landscape by the Red Wing School Board created an almost audible sigh of relief from district administrators who have been waiting weeks for just such a ruling.

	What happened: Red Wing School Board voted to realign its grade configurations at schools, moving eighth-graders to high school and fifth-graders to middle school for 2010-2011. Why it matters: Upfront costs of $193,472 will be incurred and it will be more expensive to operate ($268,992), but it will help address deficiencies that standardized tests have identified by lengthening time spent on math, English and science What comes next: School officials, teachers, parents and students will craft the details of how it will work next year.

The board voted unanimously to approve the framework of a plan that will shift eighth-graders to the high school and fifth-graders to Twin Bluff Middle School for the next school year. It also eliminates study halls and allocates more time to English, math and science classes in a concerted effort to address standardized testing inadequacies. It marks the culmination of more than a year's worth of discussion, though many of the details have yet to be decided.

"How do you eat an elephant?" board president Mitch Boldt asked. "Well, it's one bite at a time."

The first -- and most important -- bite was finally taken at Monday's meeting. A ruling had been delayed as the board sought more details to, as board member Perry Sekus said, "fundamentally change how we educate these students."

While many issues were addressed in regards to the proposed changes, the most important may have been funding. That was laid to rest by Brad Johnson, the district finance director. His estimates were applied to the five-year budget plan and the changes were minimal. The project, which will have an upfront cost of $193,472 and ongoing cost of $268,992, shifts the school's $30 million annual budget from slightly in the black to $15,115 in the red over the next five years -- though a number of factors in his formula remain fluid.

"When we're talking about a $30 million budget and we're going out five years ... $15,000 is going out a lot of decimal points," said board member Paul Kramp. "I think we owe it to the public" to do this.

Some of the costs included in the proposal needed to be addressed regardless of how the board voted Monday. An increase in special education funding accounts for $100,000 in the estimate, while new desks and other equipment is also needed, particularly at the middle school.

The biggest remaining concern centers around social issues in the realignment. Administrators expect the fifth and sixth grade classes to still function similar to their current setups, while seventh-graders will be prepped for their impending transition to the high school. Eighth-graders are also expected to be kept separate from upperclassmen as much as possible based on classroom location.

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