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District 273

Thursday, December 20, 2012

UPDATED: Hopkins School Board Rejects Edina Detachment Bid

Directors voted unanimously to keep Parkwood Knolls and Walnut Drive properties in the district.

UPDATED 10:05 p.m. Dec. 20 -- Parkwood Knolls and Walnut Drive property owners—organized as advocacy group Unite Edina 273—asked to leave the Hopkins school district for Edina schools because they think Hopkins schools are not in locations that serve the families’ educational needs. However, School Board directors voted unanimously that it’s in the district’s best interest for the neighborhoods to remain in the Hopkins school district. The decision was made in part because of the financial ramifications to the district and other taxpayers. A Nov. 29 study that concluded that detachment would cost Hopkins more than $550,000 in lost revenue, inch up taxes on remaining Hopkins property owners and cause taxes on the transferring properties to …

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Amy M.

12:12 pm on Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Hi James, In response to your comment, (below): When I plug-in the addresses to Mapquest, I get different distance #'s than you referenced in the earlier article. For example, when Mapquest calculates the driving distance from the intersection of Vernon Ave. & Walnut Dr. to Edina HS (6754 Valley View Rd.), I get a distance of 1.86 miles. Your article stated the distance was 2.36 miles. …   more ›

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

What Role Does Wealth Play in Edina Request to Leave Hopkins Schools?

The homes in the detachment area are more valuable than elsewhere in the district—or the typical Edina neighborhood. Check out the numbers for yourself and share your thoughts on how much it matters.

About one out of four homes in the portion of Edina that wants to leave the Hopkins School District is worth $1 million or more—making the area much wealthier than the typical neighborhood in the school district or Edina as a whole. That information comes from school district data put together in advance of a Thursday School Board vote on whether to support a detachment request from Parkwood Knolls and Walnut Drive property owners. The demographics paint a picture of wealthy neighborhoods where even the vacant lots are worth more than the median home value in Edina and most of the Hopkins school district. Parcels with homes have a median value 77 percent greater than the city median. The role of money and wealth has been a particularly …

Kim Melin

9:27 pm on Thursday, December 20, 2012

I am sorry to see this. I have been quoted in this article: That committee pointed to an e-mail that Edina Realty Realtor Kim Melin sent to Sen. Geoff Michel and Rep. Keith Downey, who sponsored bills that would have made it easier for property owners to change school districts. Melin wrote that the change would increase home values, resurrect construction projects that had been placed on the …   more ›

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Why Does the Hopkins School District Cover So Many Cities?

A look at how Hopkins’ boundaries came about may add context to a debate over whether some Edina residents should be able to leave the district.

Even though districts are typically named after one of the cities they serve, they are separate entities, legally distinct from those cities. Hopkins Public Schools covers all of Hopkins, most of Minnetonka, half of Golden Valley and parts of Eden Prairie, Edina, Plymouth and St. Louis Park. Those boundaries reflect numerous votes and agreements between school districts and residents in the past. This week, the Hopkins School Board will examine the latest in a long line of boundary change requests. A group of Edina residents in the Parkwood Knolls and Walnut Drive neighborhoods wants to leave Hopkins because they think its schools are not in locations that serve the families’ educational needs. In preparation for the School Board’s vote …

David F

6:55 pm on Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Interesting name calling and community bashing. I have lived in 2 school districts in the Twin Cities and both times where I lived was based on the district and elementary school that my children would attend. It sometimes gets lost in this discussion but some Edina schools are full and are not eligible for open enrollment. Edina is actually seeing an influx of new children due to the mass house …   more ›

Monday, December 17, 2012

Hopkins Prepares to Vote on Unite Edina Detachment Request

The Hopkins School Board will decide whether to support the request Thursday.

Edina residents who live in Hopkins school district boundaries only have to wait a few more days to find out whether the School Board will support their request to leave for the Edina school district. The Hopkins School Board will vote Thursday on a request from Parkwood Knolls and Walnut Drive property owners who want to leave the Hopkins school district because they think its schools are not in locations that serve the families’ educational needs. School district administrators will first report on their findings and present analysis from a Nov. 29 study that concluded that detachment would cost Hopkins more than $550,000 in lost revenue. After the presentation, School Board directors will vote on the detachment request. Click the PDFs …

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James Warden

10:49 am on Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Y'all may be interested in this story just published: http://hopkins.patch.com/articles/what-role-does-wealth-play-in-edina-request-to-leave-hopkins-schools Take a look at the demographics and share your thoughts: Are they even relevant to the discussion?   more ›

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Unite Edina Leaders Downplay Financial Impact of Detachment Request

Edina property owners who want to leave the Hopkins school district say detachment would only have a modest impact on the district.

Edina property owners who want to leave the Hopkins school district say Hopkins is better off than the district they want to join and that their departure would have minimal impact on Hopkins’ finances. Unite Edina 273 representatives made the arguments during a Wednesday morning meeting with Hopkins’ Citizens Financial Advisory Committee (CFAC) in which committee members also questioned the group’s motivations and how it’s funded. Unite Edina is made up of Parkwood Knolls and Walnut Drive property owners who say they want to leave the Hopkins school district because its schools are not in locations that serve the families’ educational needs. They say their request is about neighborhood schools and sense of community—not money. “When …

Mavis Johnsen

6:33 pm on Sunday, October 28, 2012

Bill Glahn supports the United Edina movement and has pledged to carry the bill in the legislature if elected. Ron Erhardt had 18 years to fix this problem. He did nothing. His response at a candidate forum was I don't think it's a good idea but good luck.   more ›

Friday, May 4, 2012

Edina Residents Ask Hopkins School Board to Start Detachment Work

About 400 families in the Parkwood Knolls neighborhood want to leave Hopkins Public Schools for the Edina school district.

Edina residents who live in within Hopkins Public Schools boundaries have begun making the case directly to local school boards about why their neighborhood should be transferred to the Edina school district. At Thursday’s Hopkins School Board meeting, spokesmen from Unite Edina 273—which represents 400 families in the Parkwood Knolls neighborhood—asked the district to start working toward “a mutually agreeable solution” that would allow the neighborhood to change districts. The group plans to address the Edina School Board May 21. “School district boundaries should be about education, families and community, and not merely the possession of property taxes,” Unite Edina 273 Chairman Alan Koehler. The group asked the board to: Parkwood …

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James Warden

6:46 pm on Saturday, May 5, 2012

If you or anyone else wants to share your thoughts in a letter to the editor, e-mail me at james.warden@patch.com.   more ›

Monday, April 2, 2012

Hopkins School District Opposes Bill To Make Boundary Changes Easier

The bill would allow neighborhoods to petition to leave the district without their current school district’s consent.

The Hopkins school district is fighting a bill that would allow neighborhoods to petition to leave the district without the school board’s consent. The bill paves the way for areas like the portion of Edina in Hopkins Public Schools boundaries to start the process toward withdrawing from the district—taking students in those neighborhoods out of the district, along with the money that follows them. Hopkins’ Legislative Action Coalition, which helps the School Board advocate for education-related legislation, estimates Hopkins Public Schools would lose at least $250,000 of referendum potential if the district’s portion of Edina went to Edina Public Schools. It would lose an additional $100,000 due to other students in that area becoming …

Michele Pasko

12:42 pm on Tuesday, April 3, 2012

No, neighborhoods should not be allowed to leave their current school district because it could cause major shifts in equity. We'll end up with schools full of 'have's' and schools full of 'have not's' which will translate into well funded vs. poorly funded schools. We already feel the effects of this through open enrollment, and it's becoming increasingly obvious that our kids will pay the price…   more ›

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