Integration District busing continues

Pioneer Press Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:59:27 -0700
East Metro Integration District will bus North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale students through at least July 2009

A popular desegregation program is exploring how to help families in the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale school district. Superintendent Carl Wahlstrom said the East Metro Integration District will pay to bus the school district's students at least through the end of the 2008-09 school year, even though North St. Paul is ending its participation in EMID a month before its school year ends. The North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale board voted unanimously this week to withdraw from the integration district effective June 30, 2009, and explore a partnership with other suburban districts instead. That means big decisions for the families of about 180 school district students who attend EMID's two year-round schools: Harambee Elementary in Maplewood and Crosswinds Arts and Science School in Woodbury. The students still could attend the schools, but the school district is no longer required to provide busing. The integration district - which serves St. Paul and nine suburban districts - also is exploring what kind of transportation options it could offer those families after 2009, Wahlstrom said. He said they could offer busing for a fee or possibly pay for it through grants or other means. "We haven't completely closed the door on helping these families after the 2008-09 school year," Wahlstrom said. "But we don't have anything definitive yet."

[[keywords: Schools;Living;Maplewood;]]

Making collaboration work

Pioneer Press Tue, 22 Jan 2008 22:31:22 -0700
North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale school district cuts ties with East Metro Integration District

North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale school board members decided to pull out of a popular desegregation program, despite protests from dozens of families who complained their voices weren't heard in the process. The board on Tuesday night voted 7-0 in favor of withdrawing from the East Metro Integration District and exploring a collaborative with other suburban districts. The district needed to make a decision by Feb. 1. North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale sends about 180 students to EMID's two schools: Harambee Elementary in Maplewood and Crosswinds Arts and Science School in Woodbury. Those students still could attend the schools, but they no longer would be bused. Parents argued Tuesday that the district never got them involved in the decision-making process. District officials said they put together a committee of students, teachers and administrators who met several times in December and researched the topic. Three parents were invited but had conflicts and didn't attend the meetings, said Tom Howley, the district's educational equity director.

[[keywords: Schools;Maplewood;]]

More health cost squeezing

Pioneer Press Wed, 19 Dec 2007 22:46:26 -0700
North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale and Mahtomedi school districts reach new contracts with teachers

Two more east metro school districts have reached new two-year agreements with their teachers for salary and benefits. ... In the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale district, the total two-year package - which covers 659 full-time teaching positions - is about a 10 percent increase over the old contract. During the 2006-07 school year, the district spent about $51.8 million on salary and benefits for its teachers and on retiree benefits. That will increase to $57 million during the 2008-09 school year. Some teachers will have to start contributing more toward their health insurance plans in the 2008-09 school year. Teachers will pay $159.68 a month for family insurance coverage next year, up from $90.77 this year. The district's monthly contribution will be $1,051.80 next year, up from $965.91. The district will still pay 100 percent of the $456.53 insurance premiums for single teachers during the 2008-09 school year. All those numbers are based on a projected rate increase of 15 percent.

[[keywords: Schools;PropertyTax;Maplewood;]]

Make More Money

Star Tribune Sun, 03 Feb 2008 03:12:41 GMT
3M's global growth

The company's feet are planted in Maplewood, but its body is growing overseas. 3M may stand for Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing, but the company's future is fast taking shape overseas. Whether measured by revenue, employees or investment in new plants, the Maplewood-based company's growth is being directed to its foreign operations at an accelerated pace. International sales now account for 63 percent of annual revenue, up from 53 percent in 2001. At its current growth rate, those sales should reach 65 percent of the total this year and 70 percent by 2012. Employment, equipment and factories outside the United States also have risen significantly. Half the company's workforce was in the United States as recently as 2001. Now it's 44.7 percent, with the drop just as pronounced in Minnesota, with only one in five 3M employees now working in the state, down from one in four in 2000.

[[keywords: Living;Maplewood;Metro;]]

Executive pay

Pioneer Press Tue, 22 Jan 2008 17:32:10 -0700
North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale superintendent to get contract extension

North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale school board members want to extend the district superintendent's contract for three years and give her a pay raise.

[[keywords: Schools;Maplewood;]]

School collaboratives

Star Tribune Wed, 16 Jan 2008 04:11:40 GMT
East-metro district may change course on integration

North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale might withdraw from the East Metro Integration District to start its own project in 2009. The North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale school board will vote Jan. 22 on a recommendation by district employees to pull out of the East Metro Integration District, a consortium of 10 districts it helped start in 1996, in favor of starting its own multi-district integration collaborative. The district is the second-largest provider of students to the program, sending more than 180 students -- nearly 20 percent of EMID's enrollment -- to its two schools. It also sends about $1 million a year to EMID through state per-pupil funding and integration revenue. Its withdrawal from EMID would be effective July 1, 2009. "The inclusiveness [of different races] is right here in the district," said Tom Howley, district educational equity coordinator. "The goal is to do more here that makes a difference."

[[keywords: Schools;Maplewood;]]

Transportation costs in transition

Star Tribune Thu, 15 May 2008 04:07:05 GMT
Transit fares could be raised

The Metropolitan Council will hold a series of public hearings this summer that could pave the way for higher fares for Twin Cities bus and light rail riders. Details about the potential fare increase are still being developed, but the Met Council said that without one, the regional transit system will face a $15 million projected shortfall in fiscal year 2009. The shortfall would be caused primarily by fuel cost increases. The regional agency sets fares for Metro Transit and several suburban transit operations. If approved, any fare increase will go into effect on Oct. 1 and would be the first price hike in three years, the agency said. ... Public hearing schedule: ... THURSDAY, JULY 10: 6:30-7:30 p.m. Maplewood Community Center 2100 White Bear Av., Maplewood

[[keywords: PublicWorks;Living;PropertyTax;Maplewood;Metro;]]

Library honored

Pioneer Press Wed, 05 Dec 2007 13:26:51 -0700
Maplewood library wins design award

The Maplewood branch of the Ramsey County Library was recently named a 2007 Honor Award winner by the Minnesota Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

[[keywords: Living;Maplewood;Ramsey;]]

Picking a good year to be gone

Pioneer Press Mon, 26 Nov 2007 22:39:58 -0700
Staying in the Loop

"There is nothing, absolutely nothing, half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.... "The Great Loop." What, she asked, was that? Turns out it was a yearlong boat trip on the continuous waterway that encircles the eastern portion of North America - inland rivers, the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Seaboard and the Great Lakes. Janacek thought he and his wife, Sally Colwell, could make the journey after their two sons, David and Adam Janacek, were grown and the couple had retired. Colwell had a better idea. "We should do this, but we shouldn't wait until the kids are grown," she told him. "We should do it while the kids are still young enough to go with us." So the Maplewood family bought a 36-foot trawler and spent 54 weeks in 2006 and 2007 cruising the loop, covering 8,749 miles. They returned to Minnesota Aug. 18. ... [the 8th grader] said living on a small boat also taught him how to live without many material objects. "You really don't need that much stuff - just really the bare essentials," he said. "

[[keywords: Living;Maplewood;]]

Some good financial news, at least if you own some 3M stock

Star Tribune Tue, 12 Feb 2008 02:11:42 GMT
Local business briefs

3M declares 50th annual dividend increase 3M Co., maker of 50,000 products from Post-it Notes to electronic road signs, said its board raised the quarterly dividend 4.2 percent, to 50 cents a share. The raise was the company's 50th straight annual dividend increase. The dividend is payable March 12 to shareholders of record at the close of business Feb. 22, the Maplewood-based company said in a prepared statement. Last year's increase brought the dividend to 48 cents. 3M spent $4.6 billion on dividends and share buybacks last year.

[[keywords: Living;Maplewood;]]

PP Editors vie for most misunderstandings in one paragraph award

Pioneer Press Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:26:22 -0700
On risk, a super search, disparagement and more ...

... City officials love to "disparage" each other in Maplewood. They "disparage" us on a regular basis. This handsome suburb has a robust political life that includes regular disparage-fests on the City Council. So it was interesting to learn after the ousting of city manager Greg Copeland - the result of one such fest - that Copeland has a "no disparagement" clause in his contract that prevents the City Council from saying anything bad about him after he is terminated. When M-wooders can't "disparage," they'll have to shut the city down. ...

[[keywords: Living;Maplewood;]]

Residents face need to find alternative source of nutritional supplements

Pioneer Press Mon, 14 Apr 2008 05:08:31 -0600
St. Paul's tap water has better taste and smell

For east metro residents one sure sign of spring used to be the annual return of musty tap water. The problem was blamed on algae blooms that first show up when the ice starts to melt on a series of lakes that make up the St. Paul Regional Water Services watershed. But something funny happened last year â€" the taste and odor complaints never showed up. After getting 187 complaints about the taste and odor of tap water in 2006, St. Paul Regional Water Services reports that number dropped to 15 last year, a 92 percent decline. Similarly low numbers are expected this year. It appears that a novel experiment to improve the quality of local water is working. Two years ago, the water system began installing large carbon filters â€" think of a giant Brita water filtration system â€" in the tanks at its Maplewood headquarters. The $9.6 million project was aimed at cutting down on the fishy or musty smell that's dogged local tap water for years, and it appears to have worked. "We're very pleased with the initial results," said Steve Schneider, general manager of St. Paul Regional Water Services, which provides water for St. Paul and surrounding suburbs. In Minneapolis, taste and odor complaints are still coming at a rate of several a day, city spokesman Matt Laible said. The water is perfectly safe, however. "It's the runoff putting a lot of organic matter into the water supply," Laible said. St. Paul started working on the problem years ago, asking its 417,000 customers if they would be willing to pay for improved water. The response was overwhelmingly in favor, and water services began looking for a solution.[emphasis added]

[[keywords: LandUse;PublicWorks;Living;PropertyTax;Maplewood;]]

New path to walkable communities

Star Tribune Sun, 06 Jul 2008 01:59:51 GMT
Fuel bills and budgets challenge east metro cities and counties

The ones that aren't burning up money set aside banded together to buy gas and diesel in bulk. ... In Ramsey County, the Parks and Recreation Department alone is likely to come up $40,000 short in gas and diesel expenses by the end of the year, said department director Greg Mack. More cities and counties are joining forces to buy fuel in bulk, as Woodbury did this spring. Woodbury's involvement with St. Paul and other east metro cities in a purchasing consortium already reduced its gasoline and diesel costs by $7,764 on its first fuel order. Roseville, Maplewood, Shoreview, New Brighton and Ramsey County also belong.

[[keywords: PublicSafety;PublicWorks;Maplewood;]]

3M makes adjustments

Star Tribune Wed, 05 Dec 2007 06:05:22 GMT
3M will eliminate 141 jobs

Price competition on LCD film hurt profit and prompted the action, which will hit 63 workers in Maplewood and 78 in Cincinnati.

[[keywords: Living;Maplewood;]]

End of an era

Pioneer Press Tue, 08 Jan 2008 13:17:26 -0700
3M to sell last campus parcel; 1,000 jobs leave St. Paul

3M Companies announced this week it would sell its entire campus on the East Side of St. Paul, bringing to a close a nearly century-old relationship between the Maplewood-based industrial products manufacturer and Minnesota's capital city.

[[keywords: LandUse;Living;Ramsey;]]

What does test-driven education accomplish?

Star Tribune Sun, 06 Jan 2008 05:06:22 GMT
Fall schedule is a (modified) block buster

The high school is moving away from block scheduling in an attempt to boost its scores on No Child Left Behind tests. This fall, Forest Lake High School will make its biggest schedule change in a dozen years, altering its four-period block system in a move largely driven by concerns the schedule might hamper students' performance on No Child Left Behind assessments. The high school joins a move away from the block schedule, which runs on 85-minute classes and condenses yearlong courses into a semester, in favor of one that teaches core subjects 50 minutes a day for the entire school year. The North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale and Stillwater districts also abandoned a block schedule in the past three years. The new system eliminates the learning gaps that might have students taking the MCA-II test -- the state's No Child Left Behind assessment -- a full year after their last math class. "If we take kids out for half a year and expect them to do well on state exams, we're fooling ourselves," Principal Steve Massey said.

Comment: if content and teaching methods produce results that cannot survive a year, why do we bother teaching? If, on the other hand, sound content and teaching produce results that a test can't measure a year later, why bother with that test?
[[keywords: Schools;Metro;]]

Only sure of what they don't want

Star Tribune Sun, 01 Jun 2008 02:41:35 GMT
Filling Mayor Bill's shoes will be big job in North St. Paul

The eastside city will elect its first new mayor in 30 years, and 10 candidates are in the running. ... Customers aren't wearing T-shirts or buttons for the 10 candidates who have filed, Trollen said. There's few, if any, candidate lawn signs or advertising outside, even though the July 1 election is less than five weeks away. "There's been some discussion around the bar,'' Trollen said. "There are some people who want to stay with the old style [of running the city] and some people who want to be more progressive." "It will be interesting to see what happens,'' Trollen added. Predicting what happens is anyone's guess in North St. Paul, which has landed in a leadership void with the death of Sandberg. He had been the city's chief booster and longtime civic leader, showing up everywhere from high school hockey games to Chamber of Commerce events long before many residents were born. The 10 candidates include two North St. Paul City Council members and a member of the city's Parks and Recreation Commission. Their first -- and most likely only -- candidate forum has just been scheduled for 7:30 a.m. June 24 at the North St. Paul Community Center. ... North St. Paul residents clearly don't want the kind of acrimonious leadership that often characterizes its neighbor, Maplewood. But at issue in this election is whether to stay the steady, conciliatory course set by Sandberg or to chart a new path. Whoever the next mayor is, his or her influence will be tempered by the fact that North St. Paul is a "Plan B'' type of government, which means the city manager has greater authority for the city's day-to-day operations than the mayor. "We need someone who will let city staff do their jobs,'' said City Council Member Paul Anderson.

[[keywords: Officials;Elections;Ramsey;Metro;]]

Nothing is easy

Pioneer Press Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:02:55 -0600
South Washington County Schools / School board to set attendance boundaries tonight

On the surface, school boundary changes are about where kids go to school. But dig a little deeper, and emotions emerge. Love of family tradition, pride in community, fear that housing values might decline. In South Washington County, a growing school district that includes the old river towns of St. Paul Park and Newport and the booming expanses of Woodbury, another emotion has emerged: anger. Parents have asked why their kids have to be used to achieve balance and why newcomers should push old-timers out of their desired schools.

[[keywords: Schools;Living;Maplewood;]]

Maybe Maplewood uses different contractors

Star Tribune Sun, 09 Dec 2007 05:17:09 GMT
Road project's rising cost gives Minnetonka cold feet

The price of gas, materials and land has inflated the cost of plans to widen part of Shady Oak Road. Shocked by construction costs that have more than tripled, Minnetonka is reconsidering whether it can afford to rebuild Shady Oak Road. After three years of refining a design to please residents and motorists, the Minnetonka City Council last week balked at giving final approval to the Hennepin County project because the cost has risen to $30 million from an estimated $8.6 million in 2004. The council is scheduled to discuss it again on Dec. 17.

[[keywords: PublicWorks;Metro;]]

A more complete story on the 3M sale

Pioneer Press Tue, 08 Jan 2008 23:46:16 -0700
Another giant leaves St. Paul

3M Co. is selling the rest of its campus on the East Side of St. Paul, bringing to close a nearly century-old relationship between the Maplewood-based industrial products giant and Minnesota's capital city.

[[keywords: LandUse;Living;Metro;]]