The Northland Pines School Board met last night to discuss the proposal to move the 7th and 8th grades into the high school next year. A dozen community members weighed in with passionate opinions and prepared statements, coming down evenly for and against.
Those in favor of the proposal called for people to trust the school board, such as 3rd and 4th
grade teacher Gretchen Yagow:
"Children are more apt to accept change than parents. Children want to see what’s out there. Parents want to protect."
Those against pointed to the dozens of 7-12 schools in Wisconsin with lower test scores than
Northland Pines, begging decision makers to consider all the data and learn from those schools’
challenges. Len Larson cautioned,
“If the biggest problem right now is 50 feet of walking and the bell schedule, I want to make sure you’re doing the best thing for the majority of your students.”
A petition to stop the proposal has garnered over 1000 signatures. The school board votes in late
January.
