South-of-the-River Schools (Eagan, Apple Valley, Lakeville: houses, school districts, property tax)

[AVguy]

Hi everyone,

I am very new to these forums and wanted to explore the perception and reality of the south-of-the-river schools in the Twin Cities Metro. More specifically, I wanted to discuss ISD 194 (Lakeville) and ISD 196 (Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan).

My wife and I live in Apple Valley and we don't have any school-aged children, but I figure that it's never too early to consider the school districts on this side of town. Recently, many of regular contributors to these forums (thank you for your input!) have sung the praises of the school districts on this side of town, which seem to be pretty good. I was wondering, though, do any of you notice any trends, good or bad, within these two school districts?

We live right in the middle of ISD 196 and this is where our kids would go if we stay in this district. ISD 196 has been historically strong on academics and this tend is likely to continue. However, declining enrollment in the district could potentially have a negative impact on the district as the population ages. Will the ISD 196 schools remain a priority with the aging population in ISD 196? Will older citizens continue to support the schools? Or will younger families move into older homes in ISD 196 (older for the suburbs) and continue to make education a priority? How will the three new magnet schools affect the perception of the ISD 196 schools? I have noticed that all ISD 196 school bonding ballots have passed this decade and that class sizes have stayed relatively low.

Regarding ISD 194 in Lakeville, it appears that it will continue to be a growing school district for many years to come. My perception is that Lakeville has a higher percentage of young families as compared to ISD 196. (And perhaps ISD 194 may be more affluent than ISD 196, but that's a whole different discussion for a different day.) With all the young families in Lakeville, I cannot understand why the most recent school levy did not pass this last November, even with all the political attention on schools. It appears that, as a result of the levy not passing, up to 155 full-time equivalent staff positions will be cut, including 10 staff cuts in special education (not currently a concern for us but there has been discussion about autism on these forums). (Link: http://www.thisweek-online.com/2007/january/26lkbudgetcuts1-27.html (broken link).) Compare this news with the recent news of Lakeville being named one of the "Best Places to Raise Your Family," presumably based partly on the strength of the school districts. So even though the schools are highly rated now, will the schools slip because its citizens will not fund the ISD 194 schools?

All of this is speculation so I'm just curious to know what everyone thinks. Both ISD 194 and ISD 196 has plenty of room to grow in Lakeville and Rosemount, respectively, and I imagine that the school districts should maintain their status as top-notch schools.

[golfgal]

It seems like the majority of the Lakeville residents are fed up with the increasing taxes, mainly to build new schools, over the past decade. They are facing some pretty major budget cuts in the upcoming years. Lakeville simply grew too big too fast and there really isn't any big industry in town to help shoulder the property tax burden.

As for the declining enrollment in the 196 schools, I guess that is not consistent with what I have heard. I know Rosemount high school is expected to double in size in the next 10 years with the new planned developments going in. I would guess that Apple Valley may see a slight decrease in enrollment for a few years since Apple Valley is pretty much 'full' and there isn't much land left to develop. As the population ages, houses will turn over to younger families, it is a pretty normal cycle.

The 196 district continually receives the highest marks in the state and nationally for the quality of it's schools and that is something I don't foresee changing in the next decade.