Parents have a chance to hear more about a controversial plan to move Northland Pines middle school students to the high school. An informational session is scheduled Monday night at 6:30 pm at the Northland Pines high school.
A petition asking the Northland Pines school board to stop all plans to combine grades 7 and 8 with high school students has garnered more than 900 signatures. David Eliason --a St. Germain business owner and father of two—was one of the people involved in creating the petition.
“At the end of the day, this is about the community believing that a 12 year-old does not belong with a junior or senior in high school.”
Superintendent Dr. Mike Richie claims that with a decreasing student population, a combined 7th through 12th grade is fiscally responsible and will provide opportunities for middle school students. Eliason isn’t convinced.
“We believe it’s the job of the school board and ultimately the administration to make sure they do have the data to show that this won’t be detrimental to our kids. To date they have only been able to provide anecdotal data at best.”
Everyone wants what is best for Northland Pines students. The question is what that looks like.
