100 signatures reached
To: Members of Anoka-Hennepin School Board
Attendance Boundary Petition
Currently the northwest corner of Andover, MN, is in the Anoka Middle School and Anoka High School attendance boundary. There are approximately 10 Rum River Elementary 5th grade students (representing <8% of their class) who this boundary affects each year. The remaining students (>92%) will attend Oak View Middle School and Andover High School together. We (the families of the impacted students) were thrilled that boundary re-evaluation was on our school boards agenda this year, and extremely disappointed to learn it has been removed. This has created a call to action by the families, and we are beginning the process of requesting the attendance boundary to be moved to include all Rum River Elementary students in the Oak View Middle School and Andover High School attendance boundary.
If this change is not made, these children have years of friendships that will be separated by a boundary. They have been proud Andover Huskies and part of the Andover community for K-5th grade, and will be forced to disengage based on a boundary. They have participated in Andover youth sports and this privilege will be removed (in some cases it already has), and they will no longer have access to our community amenities based on a boundary.
If this change is not made, these children have years of friendships that will be separated by a boundary. They have been proud Andover Huskies and part of the Andover community for K-5th grade, and will be forced to disengage based on a boundary. They have participated in Andover youth sports and this privilege will be removed (in some cases it already has), and they will no longer have access to our community amenities based on a boundary.
Why is this important?
Rum River Elementary is the only school in our district with this large of an impact to our students. There is one other elementary school where students are in two different middle school attendance boundaries, and it is divided approximately 60% to Oak View Middle School and 40% to Coon Rapids Middle School, far less disjoined than our 92/8 separation.
Moving schools during middle school can have a significant negative impact on a student, often leading to emotional stress, social disruption, potential academic setbacks, and challenges with forming new relationships, as they are at a crucial developmental stage where peer connections are vital and adapting to new environments can be difficult; this can manifest as anxiety, sadness, feelings of isolation, and decreased academic engagement. This is supported through research and best practice findings by multiple reputable organizations including U.S. Department of Education.
Considering property taxes associated with living in this location, we would hope priority would be given to attending the schools we fund. We are currently in the process of gathering data from the school district to gain further clarity on the balance of in-district transfers vs out of district open enrollment.
When evaluating all of the information we cannot see where the risks outweigh the benefits of having this very small student population be allowed to permanently attend Oak View Middle School and Andover High School (not through in-district transfer).
Moving schools during middle school can have a significant negative impact on a student, often leading to emotional stress, social disruption, potential academic setbacks, and challenges with forming new relationships, as they are at a crucial developmental stage where peer connections are vital and adapting to new environments can be difficult; this can manifest as anxiety, sadness, feelings of isolation, and decreased academic engagement. This is supported through research and best practice findings by multiple reputable organizations including U.S. Department of Education.
Considering property taxes associated with living in this location, we would hope priority would be given to attending the schools we fund. We are currently in the process of gathering data from the school district to gain further clarity on the balance of in-district transfers vs out of district open enrollment.
When evaluating all of the information we cannot see where the risks outweigh the benefits of having this very small student population be allowed to permanently attend Oak View Middle School and Andover High School (not through in-district transfer).