Newsletters 2017-18 Focus newsletter, [4] SPRING | Page 2

PREPARING STUDENTS FOR LIFE
PAGE 2
Community members share feedback on
proposed attendance boundary changes
BOUNDARY
CHANGES
Since late February, there have been
several opportunities to share feedback on
the 2019-20 proposed attendance bound-
aries, including several community meet-
ings, an online form as well as email and
phone hotlines. A few thousand communi-
ty members have shared their thoughts
one or more of these ways. The School
Board is expecting to see this feedback, in
full, at its June 11 work session.
A variety of factors are causing a need
to balance student enrollment all across
the district at the elementary and middle
school levels, including the addition of
two new elementary schools, the removal
of portable classrooms, and an address-
ment of class size. Check out the video for
a closer look, ahschools.us/BoundaryVideo
The board is expected to approve
attendance boundaries in September.
Additional information, including the
feedback form (updated April 18) and
a frequently asked questions page, can
be found at ahschools.us/boundaries. ■
District’s Fit for the Future projects
Construction got a late start this spring, Holden
said, in part because winter wouldn’t end — the 20-
inch blizzard the weekend of April 12-14 was a
major factor.
Work officially began May 8 at both of the new
elementary school sites, and bids have also been
approved for construction at Anoka and Blaine high
schools, where construction will begin once school
is done in June. Projects at Andover, Champlin Park
and Coon Rapids high schools will begin by
September, Holden said.
“All of these projects are big projects — new
classroom additions so we can remove portables.
The community will see the work that’s being
done,” he said.
In addition to the high school projects, which
will actually be completed in phases, and the new
cont. from page 1
elementary schools, there will be major construction
projects also occurring at both campuses of Anoka
Middle School for the Arts, Champlin-Brooklyn Park
Academy/Jackson Middle School, and the River
Trail Learning Center. (See sidebar for details on
timing and phases.)
“For a variety of reasons, not all of the construc-
tion will happen at once, but rather be rolled out in
three phases,” Holden said. “Within four years we
hope to have the biggest of the projects complet-
ed, and all bond projects at every site completed
within six years.”
The new elementary schools will be done in time
for the 2019-20 school year, he said.
For more information about the construction proj-
ects, the history of the Fit for the Future plan, and
for updates, visit ahschools.us/construction. ■
Once-in-a-lifetime lesson: Minnesota’s
Supreme Court visits Anoka High School
Students are usually the ones taking field trips as
part of their learning — to places like the science
museum, Minnesota Zoo, or the state capitol.
And Gildea wasn’t joking. While justices took time to
hold a question-and-answer session with students, had
lunch with a small group of student representatives,
and spent the afternoon visiting classrooms to discuss
the judicial system, the court also heard oral argu-
ments in a real case right there on the stage of the
AHS auditorium: the State of Minnesota v. Cortney
John Edstrom.
The case, which about 850 district students had
fly-on-the-wall status for its oral arguments, involves a
2015 case where Edstrom, the defendant, was convict-
ed of drug charges after police, following up on a tip
from an informant, used a drug-sniffing dog to sniff
outside his apartment door to detect the presence of
narcotics. The drug-sniffing dog gave a positive alert
to police that it smelled drugs in the apartment, and
that information was used to get a search warrant for
the residence where drugs were indeed found, along
with illegal firearms. Edstrom was convicted on drug
Andover High School:
Construction on classroom additions
and the cafeteria and auditorium expan-
sions will begin summer 2018 with com-
pletion set for fall 2019. Construction on
gym/fitness spaces begins summer 2020
with completion set for fall 2021.
Anoka High School:
Construction will begin summer 2018
and continue through 2020. Classroom
additions will be the priority with com-
pletion set for fall 2019. All other work
will extend until summer 2020 (cafeteria,
fieldhouse, and fitness spaces).
Anoka Middle School for the Arts
Fred Moore: Construction will begin
spring 2020 on the additional class-
rooms, and the front office and cafeteria
moves. Completion set for fall 2021.
Washington: Construction will begin
spring 2020 on the additional class-
rooms, cafeteria and gym expansions.
Completion set for fall 2021.
Blaine High School:
Construction will begin with classroom
additions and the cafeteria expansion
during summer 2018 with completion
set for fall 2019. Construction on field-
house and fitness expansions and the
front office move will begin summer
2020, with completion set for fall 2021.
Champlin-Brooklyn Park
Academy/Jackson Middle School:
Construction will begin spring 2020 on
the additional classrooms, media center
and gym, as well as the kitchen/cafeteria
expansion. Completion set for fall 2021.
Champlin Park High School:
Construction will begin summer 2018
with completion of the classroom addi-
tions, and the cafeteria, fieldhouse and
fitness expansions set for fall 2020.
Coon Rapids High School:
Construction will begin fall 2018 on the
front entry move with completion set for
winter 2019. Construction will begin
spring 2020 on the additional classrooms,
front office move and fitness expansion,
with completion set for fall 2021.
But the tables turned April 11 when the Minnesota
Supreme Court took a field trip to Anoka High School
(AHS) as part of a biannual program aimed at engag-
ing students about the importance of the justice
system and the work of Minnesota’s highest court.
“Every time we visit a high school (like AHS), we are
impressed by the incredible interest of students, their
attentiveness during the official court proceedings,
and the great questions they have about how their
court system works,” said Chief Justice Lorie Gildea.
“There is no better way to learn about the importance
of our courts than to see (it) in action.”
Timeline and details
for construction and
renovation projects
Minnesota Supreme Court visited Anoka High School April 11
as part of a biannual program aimed at engaging students
about the importance of the justice system and the work of
Minnesota’s highest court. Associate Justice Margaret
Chutich, a 1975 graduate of Anoka High School, replies to a
student question with Justice David Lillehaug, left.
and weapons charges in 2016, but in September of
last year, the Minnesota Court of Appeals threw out
the conviction, saying Edstrom’s fourth amendment
rights were violated when police used a drug-sniffing
dog to sniff outside his apartment door without a
warrant. The state appealed that decision to the
Supreme Court, and the court agreed to hear the
case, the oral arguments for which students were able
to watch and listen to at AHS.
“What an exciting place to be,” said Tenth Judicial
District Judge Tammi Fredrickson to the assembled
students as she introduced the case and the court
before oral arguments began. “This is a very special
continued on page 5
New elementary schools in
Blaine/Ramsey:
Construction will begin spring 2018
with completion set for fall 2019.
River Trail Learning Center:
Construction will begin spring 2020
on the additional classrooms and
special education improvements.
Completion set for fall 2021.
All schools:
Science, media center and/or special
education improvements will be occur-
ring at all district schools from 2018
through 2021. Smaller general improve-
ments will occur from 2021 through 2023.
In addition to Fit for the Future referen-
dum projects, the district will continue to
invest in maintenance for roofs, heating
and ventilation, flooring, and other proj-
ects to maintain the public investment
in schools through long-term fa cilities
maintenance funding sources. ■