Faced with a $15 million budget deficit and a large demographic gap, the Burnsville school district has embarked on an effort to potentially transform the district.
The dialogue, begun this past summer, could lead to the closure of a junior high, an expansion of Burnsville High School, the closure of some other district buildings and new attendance boundaries to provide new academic offerings.
"It's very transformational," Bob Nystrom, president of the Burnsville Education Association, said of the ideas being debated.
The discussion points come from Superintendent Randy Clegg, who is retiring at the end of this school year. Earlier this fall, Clegg presented to the school board some options on how to save about $5 million in each of the next three years.
Those discussions gradually evolved into how to address other issues including chronic attendance declines and a clustering of students from low-income households at some schools.
"The whole thing is a domino effect," said Ron Hill, chairman of the school board, who estimates the transformation could take as long as five to 10 years. "It's a matter of giving different opportunities to students."
High school changes
The idea of closing an elementary school never got much traction, but there does appear to be support for expanding Burnsville High School and closing the senior campus at the Diamondhead Education Center, which also houses adult education.