Crookston School District Superintendent Jeremey Olson released a July communication regarding the upcoming school year and future plans. The letter is below.
A few days ago, I noticed a license plate that bore the words “Vietnam Vet”. I started to think about what this individual had sacrificed in the service of our country and also wondered if I really even understood what true sacrifice demands. In light of the proximity to celebrating our country’s independence, I wanted to reflect on the cost of freedom. While our country is far from perfect, we are always in pursuit of a more perfect union. Those who are serving and have served our country have paid the price for our continued freedom and provided us with the ability to have debate over the direction of our country. To these guardians of our liberty I say thank you. Thank you’s are also in order for the military family who support our soldiers as they serve our country. Thank you for your service!
This summer has been filled with lots of planning and preparation, some of which I will highlight in this communication.
2021-2022 School Year:
First of all I wanted to let you know what we are currently planning for next year. While we understand that guidance may be coming out at some point this summer regarding the return to school, it is my belief that this year will look like a fairly normal school year. At this point we are not planning on requiring masks for the school day; however, due to a current standing federal transportation rule, masks are still required on school buses. At this point students aged 12 and up have had the opportunity to be vaccinated and we will be asking parents to continue to monitor for signs and symptoms as a precautionary measure as students younger than 12 are currently not able to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. We are encouraging any parents who have health related concerns to contact your school so that we can work with you, as we realize that there are a variety of views on the return to school. We demonstrated last spring that a full return to school was safe and we are planning on a normal start of school this fall. We will continue to update you if this situation changes.
Planning for the Future:
We are working right now on what our district may look like if we transition to a middle school model in the future for grades 6-8 as well as building capacity in our Preschool Program. I am a strong advocate for a self contained Middle School Program housed within our current high school as I believe it meets the needs of our students both academically and developmentally. We are in the ground stages of determining what this could possibly look like. At this point we are only dreaming about what could be. Our 7th grade team worked on a somewhat self contained middle school model last year. We are potentially looking to expand this model in future years. To do so, I would like to see a separate portion of the building that would allow the middle school to take on its own separate culture to help better transition and meet the developmental needs of middle school students.
Free/Reduced Lunch Forms:
We will be asking parents to fill out free/reduced lunch forms again this year as these forms translate into funding for our school district that is separate from our lunch funding. The state of MN gives additional dollars that we use to fund our Preschool Program, Title I program, and help struggling students. Last year alone, we lost $250,000 of funding simply because people didn’t fill out these forms. This is state funding that was lost and therefore does return to our local taxpayers. This year we are going to make this as easy as possible by making a form available online to fill out.
New to Town or Want more info on Crookston Public Schools?
If you are new to town, interested in enrolling, or just want more information on Crookston Public Schools, please contact your local school:
Grades PreK-Kindergarten: Washington Elementary School – 218-281-2762
Grades 1-6: Highland Elementary School – 218-281-5600
Grades 7-12: Crookston High School – 218-281-2144
District Questions: 218-281-5313
Website: www.crookston.k12.mn.us
You can also call me at 218-770-8717 or email me at jeremyolson@isd593.org.
Thank you for your continued support of Crookston Public Schools! Go Pirates!
