4 Day School Week for North Branch Students

There are 5 main issues around my community right now. Recently it was just passed that next school year will now only be 4 days a week instead of five in the North Branch area. There’s talk of putting a power plant up over by the Sunrise River. Also the construction that’s going on with the bridge over 35, they are adding on to create more lanes. Another thing is that there is also talk about the Light Rail that would go from the cities up into Duluth. That might go through our town of North Branch or Cambridge the next town over. Of course another main issue is the people being affected by the economy.

“The two biggest issue’s going on right now are probably the school week changing to four days and the power plant that might be built,” says Steve Nelson, a teacher and coach at the North Branch High School. I asked why the school would want to change from a five day schedule to a four day schedule. He replied with, “They think it will save money. They won’t have to pay for heating for all the buildings or gases for the buses. They wouldn’t have to pay the hourly staff like the bus drivers and the cooks and some other staff. They predict that it could save the school a quarter of a million dollars a year. It would start from around 7 – 7:30 in the morning and go until around 3:30 in the afternoon and it would be from Tuesday until Friday. Monday’s the students would get off.” Although it might be nice for some older students, who could work an extra day out of the week it might not be so nice for others. Most parents work Monday through Friday and the school schedule works with theirs. But, with students having Monday’s off, not all parents can stay home and watch their children. They would have to find a daycare or babysitters for their children.

The other main issue is the power plant that may be built nearby. It would be built up near the river and used for electricity for the community. The water it would be near would help it cool. It would help the community because it would have a tax base increase. The school and community could mention that one their taxes. Talking with Steve, he quoted what many people in the community have been saying. “People don’t want a power plant in their backyard.”

Information on the 4 Day Week

http://www.northbranch.k12.mn.us/se3bin/clientgenie.cgi?schoolname=school540&statusFlag=goGenie&geniesite=599&myButton=g5plugin&db=g599_b4758

Information on the Power Plant

http://ecmpostreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2342&Itemid=1

Information on the Light Rail

http://www.perfectduluthday.com/2009/03/02/high-speed-train-from-duluth-to-twin-cities/