Continued: Stick to ABCs, parents tell schools

One by one, St. Louis Park School District grandmothers, parents and students stood at a microphone, outlining a mixture of facts and opinions about the more than $1.4 million in budget cuts the district faces. A few speakers cried.

Residents who spoke at the district's recent board meeting on pending cuts said they realized slashing the budget isn't easy. But many said they couldn't understand why the district -- faced with steep cuts -- is still seeking International Baccalaureate status at all of its elementary schools by 2010.

"When the plans for [the IB program] were implemented, no one knew we were heading into a recession and no one knew a bridge would fall down and that we'd face 1 percent increases [in state aid]," said Kris Hengel, a St. Louis Park parent who helped start an online community forum at www.meetup.com.

Hengel and other St. Louis Park residents have stumbled onto a larger issue. Is it appropriate for schools to introduce innovative programs such as IB while stagnant state aid and declining enrollment force them to cut other programs?

Some parents say it isn't -- among them, many St. Louis Park residents worried about larger class sizes, reduced electives such as music and fewer school social worker and nurse positions.

School districts, on the other hand, point to more state support in the form of multi-million-dollar grants for programs such as IB that increase academic rigor.

There's also concern that if they don't introduce innovative programs, they could lose students and the state aid they bring to other districts through open enrollment.

"Do you retreat to preserve teachers in the classroom or work to transform your schools?" said Charles Kyte, executive director of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators. "There is no right answer, [because] the right answer would be to try to do both."

Kyte said similar debates could emerge throughout the metro area and state this spring about IB, all-day kindergarten and other programs. Minnesota schools must complete their 2008-09 budgets by July 1. St. Louis Park will hold another forum on cuts at 5:30 p.m. Monday at St. Louis Park High School.

If the St. Louis Park School District completes the IB application process for its four K-6 schools by 2010, it would be one of a handful of Minnesota districts to offer authorized IB programs to all of its elementary students, except those in magnet or immersion programs.

St. Louis Park already offers an IB diploma at its high school and is also exploring a middle-school program.

Earle Brown Elementary in Brooklyn Center is an IB World School. South St. Paul's two elementary schools are also IB Primary Years Program candidates. Lakes International Language Academy, a public K-6 Spanish immersion school in Prior Lake, is also an IB candidate school, the state Department of Education said.

Earle Brown Principal Randall Koch said about 300 of the school's more than 1,048 students come from other districts. He said parents there have not expressed concerns about the costs of remaining affiliated with IB despite recent budget cuts.

"We've got 60 more students [from outside the district] on the waiting list," Koch said.

St. Louis Park received a $563,168 grant last fall as part of a more than $2 million effort by the state Department of Education to expand IB programs. Minneapolis, Osseo, St. Paul and Robbinsdale school districts also received awards.

Cost is less than 1 percent

Amy Parnell, a spokeswoman for St. Louis Park, said at about $383,000, the cost of running the IB primary years program is less than 1 percent of the district's general fund budget. The figure includes part-time IB coordinators, Spanish language teachers and other fees related to training.

"St. Louis Park is unique in that they are looking at the whole K-12 system and [attempting] to offer it from kindergarten through 12th grade," said Karen Klinzing, assistant commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education. "We're very supportive of what St. Louis Park is doing" with IB programs.

Klinzing said programs such as IB and Advanced Placement classes have been high priorities for the department and the Legislature since at least the mid-1990s, with more consistent commitment since 2003.

The number of Minnesota students in IB and AP programs has increased from 4,938 students in 1993 to about 23,947 students last year, she said. Often, state grants require school districts to make a concerted effort to include low-income and minority students in such programs. St. Louis Park's grant included those goals.

"You have to reapply for those [grants]," Parnell said, "but we're hopeful we can do well with IB."

Patrice Relerford • 612-673-4395