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Full-service school zones created

Published (4/15/2011)
By Kris Berggren
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With a few exceptions, such as in high-traffic, -crime or -drug areas, elementary school students aren’t eligible for transportation to and from their school, if they live within a mile of their school and high school students within two miles.

Rep. Rena Moran (DFL-St. Paul) sponsors HF563, which would allow school boards to add another exception by creating “full-service school zones” in areas with socioeconomic challenges and where a school there offers on-site community services such as health and dental care, mentoring and other supports intended to engage parents and keep children healthy and in school.

The House Education Reform Committee approved the bill April 14. It goes next to the House floor. Sen. John Harrington (DFL-St. Paul) sponsors a companion, SF372, which awaits action by the full Senate.

A neighborhood near Dayton’s Bluff Elementary is an example of a community that could benefit. The “Achievement Plus” school has erased the achievement gap over the past decade thanks in part to offering holistic family services, according to Andrew Collins, the school’s former principal, now St. Paul Public Schools assistant superintendent and director of turnaround schools.

Collins said some students who live close to the school might like to attend, but parents fear for their child walking even a few blocks to school, and sometimes choose other options.

The bill would allow students attending a school in such a zone to be transported to school even if they live within a mile from the school. It would also add to the list of approved locations where students could be dropped off by school buses after school. Besides their home, a relative’s home, or a licensed day care facility or after-school program, the bill would allow parents to choose another location such as a park and recreation board location or a Boys and Girls Club site.

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