FAQ

It can have a significant impact on families and change of this magnitude can be difficult. While a school closure will have short-term impacts, the long-term goal is to provide better educational opportunities and services for our students. This includes maintaining or lowering class sizes. 

The district’s mission to provide an excellent education to students, current financial situation, and enrollment outlook is what led the district to school consolidation. The district’s enrollment has dropped by 2,000 students over the past decade.

Fewer students in schools reduces the amount of staff allocated to those buildings. That, paired with the challenge of filling vacancies and hiring highly-qualified staff, leads to fewer educational opportunities for students. Additionally, when buildings aren’t utilized to high capacity levels, the district must maintain more square footage than is needed, causing an inefficient draw on financial resources.

The district has been working since early spring to prepare for additional school consolidations. The district and school board are committed to ensuring school consolidation decisions are:

• Grounded in our needs
• Aligned with our strategic plan
• Informed by our community
• Focused on long-term sustainability and quality of educational programming

As part of the process, a community facility team made up of staff, parents, students, and community members was formed to review family, staff, and community feedback to create a school consolidation framework for district administration to follow.

The administration’s recommended school consolidation plan to the school board will be released on Monday, January 6.

Charter schools operate under contracts with the district that last for several years. Once a charter school’s application is approved, the district is legally bound by that contract. The district cannot close a charter school unless it is not meeting the requirements outlined in the contract or failing to provide the education it promised. Without valid reasons to end the contract, the district cannot force a charter school to close.

School staffing is based on student enrollment and their needs. Schools experiencing growth in enrollment will receive additional staff as necessary. Class sizes, or pupil-teacher ratios, are determined during the budget process and approved by the school board. The district does not anticipate an increase in class sizes as a result of rightsizing efforts.

Consolidating elementary schools will help maintain class sizes, provide better nursing services, and reduce the need for split classrooms. It will also make sure every school can offer special education programs, so students won’t need to travel to other schools, which saves on transportation costs. Keeping families together in the same school strengthens community connections and improves the learning experience for everyone.

Feedback from our strategic planning process indicated strong support for maintaining the current grade configurations used in our district. Additionally, our neighborhood middle and high schools lack the capacity to accommodate students from a potential closure of one of those buildings.

Secondary schools won’t be consolidated, but middle schools might be affected by school boundary changes to keep student enrollment balanced.

Yes, consolidating schools will help with the amount of staff vacancies by sharing resources and improving staffing. By combining teams, we can make sure schools have enough qualified teachers and support staff. This creates a better learning experience for students and reduces pressure on our current staff, helping us provide consistent, high-quality education across the district.

There will be a reduction in positions overall, but layoffs may be avoided as many reductions can be managed through existing vacancies. Typically, staff follow students, and staffing needs will be adjusted based on enrollment, expected attrition, and budget considerations. The district will keep employees informed throughout the process and will provide support to staff impacted by school closures or repurposing. We are also working closely with union leadership to ensure the transition is smooth and fair for all employees.

Yes, the Board of Education and administration want to hear from parents, students and the community. We realize this is a difficult and emotional topic, and we need to be able to talk about it in order to process this as a community. Feedback can be sent to the Board of Education at schoolboard@k12northstar.org and public testimony can be given at board regular meetings.

Closing a school saves money by cutting ongoing costs like utilities, building maintenance, school budgets, staffing, and instructional subscriptions or licenses tied to that school. These savings are long-term and provide lasting financial benefits, not just one-time reductions.