Posted on June 21, 2011

Anonymous Eden Prairie Group Threatens School Boundary Suit

Kelly Smith, Star Tribune, June 20, 2011

Eden Prairie parents fighting a school desegregation plan say they’ll release a proposal for a settlement with the school district in the next week.

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It’s been that way for six months as leaders of the group Yes For Neighborhood Schools have confounded school leaders and waged an elusive, prolonged war against the 9,700-student school district.

The showdown using the Internet and anonymous statements offers a preview of what other districts across the metro area could face over the highly sensitive, contentious issue.

The Eden Prairie group recently spoke publicly for the first time through one parent, defending anonymous e-mails that have warned of a lawsuit and shedding new light on a largely faceless group.

“We stop fighting when a judge tells us that it can’t go any further,” said Nancy Frischmon, an Eden Prairie resident with five school-aged children. “But until then, we don’t stop.”

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In the affluent, high-achieving suburb, a widely watched December vote by the school board to reconfigure schools and alter boundary lines to achieve socioeconomic desegregation fueled a volatile debate that’s split the community. Other suburban districts face similar demographic challenges. In Eden Prairie, though, much of the animosity is targeted at Superintendent Melissa Krull, the plan’s champion.

Numerous e-mails from Yes For Neighborhood Schools–signed “Editors”–have threatened a lawsuit and demanded that Krull’s contract not be renewed. {snip}

Last October, as proposed new boundaries were released, Frischmon said about 30 parents launched theyesforneighborhoodschools.org website. They were united in opposition to a “recycled busing experiment,” or the plan to bus some kids farther from their neighborhood to balance concentrations of low-income students.

The website has organized protests and petitions, promoted meetings and shared research that disputes benefits of busing plans. It seeks financial contributions through a Minnetonka post office box; the initial goal was to raise $100 per family. Frischmon declined to say how much has been raised.

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