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REFLECTIONS: Painter shows artwork in New York PAGE 10
Public hearing explores school consolidation BY JACKIE BUSSJAEGER STAFF WRITER
STILLWATER — Minnesota Commissioner of Education Brenda Cassellius hosted a public hearing last week in response to a citizen petition to consolidate the Stillwater and Mahtomedi school districts. The hearing was a statutory requirement in order for the commissioner to gather information needed to approve or reject the consolidation plat and supporting statement. It was held March 16 at Stillwater Jr. High, where Assistant Commissioner Daron Korte and Program Finance Division Director Tom Melcher were also in attendance to hear public comment. The proposal is meant to benefit taxpayers in both districts, while sharing resources and funding and possibly allowing Marine, Withrow and Oak Park elementary school to stay open, despite the passing of Stillwater’s BOLD proposal. Melcher explained the necessary steps for the commissioner and the districts in the consolidation process. Cassellius will review the information, and then has the option to reject it (which would terminate the process), alter it or accept it. From that point, it moves into the hands of both school districts, whose respective boards will vote on the proposal and possibly put the matter to a public vote. In the event that a school board rejects the proposal, residents still have the option of forwarding the proposal to a public vote if they are able to collect a petition signed by at least 5 percent of residents in that district. Mahtomedi resident Shannon Bryant, who organized the petition, presented the details of the proposal during the meeting. She pointed out that Stillwater and Mahtomedi are already sharing several services, and that Stillwater schools are currently losing $2.3 million in funding to Mahtomedi schools in open enrollment. She also mentioned that the plan could save transportation costs, since Mahtomedi’s bus hub is in the north and could easily transport children in the northern part of the district, rather than requiring Stillwater’s southern-located bus facility to make continual trips north to bring the BOLD-displaced students to southern schools. These are only a few of the possible benefits Bryant presented. “Under this plan, the staff and teachers stay, and they stay with their benefits,” Bryant said. “It’s providing taxpayers the highest return for the lowest investment.” Afterward, the floor was opened for public comment. Many of the individuals who spoke referred back to what they perceived as weaknesses in the BOLD process, which the Stillwater school board SEE SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION, PAGE 12
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Members of the Stillwater Mountain Bike Team line up for a race.
Stillwater mountain bikers gear up for 2016 BY JULIE KINK CONTRIBUTING WRITER
STILLWATER — Three short years since its inception, the Stillwater Area High School Mountain Bike Team has become the largest team in the state, with 55 student racers in 2015. There’s a reason for that popularity, according to Hank Gray, one of three coaches who’ve been with the team since it began in 2013. “The immediate gratification single-track racing or even just riding provides is just the formula for today’s youth, giving students an opportunity to train and race on a bike as an individual and as part of a team all at the same time,” Gray explained. In mountain biking, specially designed bikes are ridden off-road on natural surface trails over rough terrain. The sport builds endurance, core strength and bike handling skills: riders must learn to maintain and repair their bikes on the trail, usually without assistance. That builds self-reliance, Gray said. “Riding on single track is a constant barrage of problems and
immediate solutions needed by the rider. Racers have a course, with lots of obstacles and plenty of competitors and a clock timing them against the other racers and themselves. A mistake takes you off the course into some brush, left with a flat tire. They have to figure it out for themselves. Problem-solution-problem-solution,” Gray explained. Comprised of junior and senior high school students (both girls and boys) in District 834, the Stillwater Mountain Bike Team follows the guidelines of NICA, the National Interscholastic Cycling Association. Kids start training in July for the September-October racing season. There’s a bike tune-up day and three two-hour workouts each week, plus weekend competitions. The team competes within the Minnesota High School Cycling League, which was organized in 2012. The team practices after school like any other sport, noted coach Joel Nichols. “We meet at our shed on school grounds and ride to wherever we’re going to be practicing. The focus and intensity of the workouts are based primarily on
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the race schedule.” During workouts, riders practice technical, distance or hill climbing and descending skills. In addition to practicing at the SAHS technical park — a 3-acre parcel with a twisty trail — the group bikes to parks like Lake Elmo Park Reserve to ride distances of up to 25-30 miles over a two-hour stretch. Hill climbing practice takes place at Valley View Park or Barkers Alps. The group hopes to build a beginners’ mountain bike trail in the Brown’s Creek Nature Preserve. Safety is emphasized; kids proceed down a course one after another when on single-track trails; on public roads, it’s strictly single file with ride leaders in front and behind. (Volunteer adult ride leaders are needed.) SAHS 10th-grader Siri Bohacek said her technical riding skills have improved a lot since joining the team two years ago to cross train for cross-country skiing. “I love being on such a close team; it’s made me a better teammate,” Bohacek said. “I often ride with one of my best friends, who’s also on SEE MOUNTAIN BIKING, PAGE 12
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