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School Talk: Parking lot repairs

Authorization was given by school board action to move forward with the repair and renovation of district parking lots at the main campus site and Washington School during the summer of 2013. The project is projected to cost approximately $660,000. It will be financed through a tax abatement process over a 15 year period.

The main campus parking lot space has been subjected to seal coat and overlay updates several times since it was created over 40 years ago. continuing with such maintenance procedures in the future would not be a wise investment.

During the summer months of 2013, the base surface will be ground up and reused, new curb and gutters will be installed where necessary on the main lot at the main campus. Crack filling and seal coating will also be done at the Washington School site and the High School faculty lot off Payne Street. Completion of the project is expected in early August.

State of public education

An independent organization known as MinnCAN has recently released a report on the State of Minnesota Public Education. Some key findings in the report are summarized in the following paragraphs.

The number of students who are college-ready on all four subject areas of the ACT test has risen 36 percent , compared to the national average of 26 percent.

The National Institute of Early Education research ranks Minnesota near the bottom in pre-kindergarten accessibility for 3-4 year olds.

Minnesota is near the national average in dollars allocated per pupil for K012 education. Minnesota allocates $10,685 per pupil compared to $10,615 nationally. These dollar allocations include all education costs, including special services and facilities.

Black students trail their white peers by 30 percentage points in reading and 37 percentage points in math. A significant gap also exists for college and career-readiness.

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