RAS has created overcrowded Schools!!

By The NumbersGuy (Ron Stoffel), New Hope, MN

Robbinsdale Area School District # 281 (RAS) has created and is continuing to cause overcrowded schools by mismanaging non-resident student populations in most district schools. An example is at Plymouth Middle School (PMS), which is one of the schools used to require the $30+ million expansion plan, the 14-15 year percentage of non-resident students to total students is about 8%. Under Minnesota Statue 124D.03, the District is required to have at least 1% of total student population by grade be made up of non-resident students.  Therefore, PMS has 7 times the number of non-resident students required by law!! RAS total District wide non-resident student population is over 12%.

If the District properly managed its non-resident student populations at PMS and throughout the District, there would be NO NEED to spend over $30 million in capital and over $1.2 million in annual operating cost!!

The District has said that it has taken of 20 months to review all options for addressing the overcrowded schools, have they considered reducing non-resident student population?? If not, Why not??

I believe this is a COMPLETELY self-inflected problem that must be fixed without spending over $30 million in capital and $1.2 million in annual operating cost!!

Over 30 million in capital costs would be COMPLETELY paid for by District #281 residents, not non-resident student families!!!

Please contact RAS School Board and Administration to ask why THEY have caused this problem and their solution is to tax the residents of RAS???