Rochester Public Schools announce potential upcoming changes

Citlalli Gomez KSTP

There are potential major changes coming to Rochester Public Schools that could impact families across the Rochester district.

According to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS sister station KAAL, Superintendent Kent Pekel of Rochester Public Schools plans to propose a redesign of attendance options at the next school board meeting on Nov. 28

The plan includes changes to the start and end times of the school day, ditching the year-round option, cutting transportation for some students, and closing some school buildings.

“It’s painful stuff,” said Pekel.

The changes are being proposed as the Rochester Public School District tries to find new ways to save money as costs rise, according to KAAL.

As of now, the district’s plan consists of ten sections, but a final plan set won’t be set in stone until February. The following are the ten sections of the plan that the district has:

  • Redesign of School Attendance Areas
  • Discontinuation of Districtwide Transportation for Districtwide Option Schools
  • Expansion of the School-Age Child Care Program (SACC)
  • Expansion of the Newcomers Program of Multilingual Students
  • School Closure Adjustment to Declining Enrollment: Due to the declining enrollment at Mighty Oaks Early Learning School, Pinewood Elementary, and Riverside Elementary, the schools are set to be closed.
  • Redesign of Churchill and Hoover Early Learning and Elementary Schools: The district plans to make Churchill a K-5 school and to have Hoover be an early childhood school only.
  • Movement of Lincoln K-8 School to New Location and Expansion of Enrollment
  • The Adoption of the Traditional Calendar at Longfellow Elementary and the Expansion of the School to K-8
  • Creation of an ALC Middle School
  • Maintain Support for Students with Disabilities

For more information and details on these ten points, CLICK HERE to access the Rochester Public Schools media release.

The district’s plan would also adjust the start and end times of many schools and reduce transportation costs, all while still getting students on time to school. These are the following time changes that the district could make:

  • The Elementary schools’ school day will be moved from 9:25 a.m. – 3: p.m. to 7:55 a.m. – 2:15 p.m.
  • The Middle school’s school day will be moved from 8:10 a.m. – 2:50 p.m. to 8:35 a.m. – 3:15 p.m.
  • The High schools’ school day will be moved from 8:10 a.m. – 3:20 p.m. to 8:50 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

The proposed changes come as the transportation budget is expected to increase by 30% next year — about $30 million.

According to KAAL, the proposal mentioned that in order to implement these changes, there needs to be substantial changes to the transportation system. The transportation system supports around 10,000 students and makes around 630 routed runs per day.

“I like to think of it as a donut, and in the middle of that donut is the empty space which is your walk zone, that’s where you can walk [to and from school]. The donut itself is the district transportation zone. What’s different, is there would also be a self-transportation zone. So, any family that wants [to] send their kid to any school in Rochester can do it, if it’s not filled with kids who live within the donut,” said Pekel.