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When I started my career, I was an English Teacher.  In all of the standards I taught, I can recall vividly one of the most challenging areas students identified in the content area, was writing research papers.  One of the main concerns they had was feeling like they were missing something and that the work they did wouldn’t adequately articulate their point of view.   One way we helped in building their confidence was setting up different levels of feedback throughout the process.  On a regular basis, my students would meet in small groups to discuss their outlines, their ideas, and run through some of their content with their peers.  After a while, I observed an incredible transformation in their beliefs because others weighed in on their writing, provided good feedback, and validated that they were on the right track.  

Three decades later and I find myself following the same path with a different group of people right in the Chisago Lakes area.  

Over the past two months, I have invited a group of people, representative of our community and all the different walks-of-life we live, to come in and help us in our next big decision-making process.  Specifically, they are assisting us in creating a recommendation for the School Board that can provide another lens of perspective as they begin the dialogue about what facility needs we have that need to be addressed in our schools for the future.  This group has been an incredible resource for us to share our story and to get invaluable perspective and feedback as to how we can proceed.  

At the first meeting, we were able to do a deep dive into our past, present, and future.  Through this overarching look at Chisago Lakes School District, our community group understood the complexities of being a financially poor District in Minnesota, the decisions we were currently making to balance our budget, the limited revenue we receive annually to address our buildings, and the overall approach we take in stretching the dollars we are given.  In the end, it was safe to say that we do more with less money better than most Districts because if we didn’t, we would not be able to provide the incredible programs and services led by amazing staff members for our students.  

By the second meeting, we shared the latest results from the recent community survey that showed a new, positive reality for us.  In the results, we saw our communities give us accolades in the areas of being a good investment and providing a quality education.  We saw trust in District staff, the Superintendent and Administration, and the School Board, and most importantly, we saw increased support for our facility projects that people recognized needed to be addressed.  Overall, the positive feedback provided our group members with the data they needed to translate that data into a series of recommendations that supported the work we are endeavoring to do.  

After all that dialogue and discussion, the group recommended that the necessary fixes to items that are at end-of-life, keep our students and staff safe and secure, and keep our schools running efficiently for the long haul rose to the forefront in their recommendation to the School Board.  I

n total, they provided a range of $51 million to $67 million for a bond that addressed our most pressing needs from roofs and mechanical items to plumbing, safety and security, and the Chisago Lakes Middle School building itself.  Furthermore, they also discussed the realities of the lack of fair student funding in Minnesota and encouraged us to think about an operational levy in the future.  

But feedback didn’t start and stop with just this group.  We’ve been engaging our staff, our students, and our families in formal and informal ways to try to get as much perspective as possible.  That feedback all points to a spirit of collaboration, a desire to make sure we clearly demonstrate our needs, educate our public, and ensure that these projects will be addressed into the future.  In addition, this entire process has laid the road for our future work in our facilities too.  Now that we have a completed facilities plan that identifies our most pressing needs for the future, we can follow the plan, address the needs, and repeat the same process 15 years down the road to review the past plan, have the experts come back through to reassess and evaluate our facilities, and know with confidence what would need to be done at that point.  The planning and predictability that we are creating will provide a clear roadmap to our work in the future.  

As we wrapped up this group work and overall engagement, it reminds me of the essence of this season; gratitude.  I am so grateful for the time, thoughtfulness, honesty, and commitment everyone has given to our District.  The old saying of, ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ was on full display over the past three months and will continue to be a symbol for the work ahead.  It didn’t matter if you were a parent, empty nester, grandparent, or a community leader, this work took everyone's walks of life into account and produced a plan that everyone can rally around.  Our District focuses on being the best we can be and doing things the ‘Wildcat’ way.  But the reality is that we are all ‘Wildcats’ and our commitment to one another makes us stronger.  

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