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To FLY or not to FLY ...

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Luverne board continues debate on merits of Flexible Learning Year
By
Mavis Fodness

Luverne school officials will conduct another survey to decide whether or not to continue starting school before Labor Day.
This time, however, instead of an online poll, the board plans to conduct a simpler paper survey during parent-teacher conferences in late October and early November.
At the Oct. 8 board meeting, Superintendent Craig Oftedahl discussed with board members survey drafts of three surveys: one for students, one for staff and one for parents/community.
In Oftedahl’s versions the number of questions range from one (the student survey) to four (the survey for staff and parents/community members.)
Students will be asked if they prefer starting classes as part of the Flexible Learning Year/before Labor Day or the regular calendar year/begin the Tuesday after Labor Day. Students can also indicate if they have no preference/undecided.
Staff and parents/community members will be asked the same start question and why they support or don’t support a chosen start date.
 
Previous survey results were inconclusive
A previous survey in April of this year was conducted online and involved answering 28 questions.
The survey garnered 800 responses.
However, attempts to tally the results by computer failed, along with the discovery of some duplicate responses. The manual tabulation of three of the questions didn’t result in a clear indication of what was preferred.
Last month board members decided to conduct the survey again.
Luverne Middle/High School will conduct conferences from 4 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22, and Monday, Oct. 26. The elementary school will have conferences from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, and from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5.
 
Only three schools remain in the original FLY plan
Oftedahl and superintendents from the 21 other school districts involved in the Flexible Learning Year (FLY) Consortium met Sept. 30.
In his report to the board members, only three superintendents (Windom, Springfield and Sleepy Eye) have committed their districts to another three years of starting school before Labor Day.
Only Luverne and Redwood Falls Area have yet to make a formal decision.
Since 2010 the local FLY consortium has received a special exemption from the Minnesota Department of Education to begin classes earlier than the rest of the state under the department’s Flexible Learning Year program.
Application for another three-year early start needs to be submitted to the state by February 2016.
The application requirements include the continuation of professional learning communities and full implementation of the standards-referenced reporting or standards-based grading within a three-year window.
Adrian and Westbrook-Walnut Grove, however, are looking to revert back to starting school after Labor Day and working with the Southwest West Central Service Cooperative for implementing standards-based grading over a five-year period. Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, Ivanhoe, Lynd and Hendricks have already chosen this path.
Minneota and Lakeview will join with the Minnesota River Valley Education District Cooperative in submission of their own FLY proposal.
Hills-Beaver Creek, Jackson County Central, Worthington, Edgerton, Round Lake-Brewster, Comfrey, Mountain Lake and Marshall have all dropped from the FLY Consortium.

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