Horns blared. Kids waved signs. Parents expressed frustration. It was Wednesday, January 13th when Crestview supporters facilitated a peaceful rally here in Cottage Grove.

One day prior, Rebecca Cueller attached an invitation to her “Save Crestview Elementary School” petition located on Change.org. The PTA President at Crestview was calling on the 2,000+ signers to wear red/Crestview gear, bring homemade signs, and “get loud” the following day. Clocks in the community struck 3:30 p.m. that Wednesday. Sure enough, masked protesters gathered, six feet apart, at Crestview. Next, the crew navigated to the District Service Center situated on East Point Douglas Road. There, students, parents, and additional supporters of Crestview made their voices heard. Some even lifted posters that read, “Save Crestview!” and “We are Crestview!”

Conversation over closing this South Washington County elementary school derives from the district needing to form adjustments to their budget. Their Superintendent, Julie Nielsen, published a letter to Crestview families on January 6th, where she spelled out, “Over the last four years, the cost of educational services in South Washington County Schools (SoWashCo) has continued to outpace the funding available to fully support our operations. The COVID-19 pandemic has created additional unexpected costs, declining enrollment districtwide and uncertainty for state aid.”

Due to this lack of funds, a committee of school and department leaders were forced to brainstorm ways to reduce spending at the beginning of January. They drew ideas that they claim Crestview

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“increase revenue”, “reduce expenses”, maintain savings and cause less demanding cuts in the future. One of those proposals was to shut down Crestview, an elementary school located on 80th Street and adjacent to Park High School.

Also incorporated into her letter to Crestview families was a list of reasons for why specifically Crestview is being targeted. First, Nielsen claims that the district could save $1 million as a result of Crestview’s closure. In the 2021-2022 school year, the district is determined to facilitate $12 million worth of eliminations. If they terminated Crestview’s services, the district would be a fraction closer to reaching that goal. Nielsen elaborated on SWCS’s website, “Our goal is to cut $18 million over the next three years. Of that $18 million, our goal was to reduce the budget by $12 million in the 2021-22 school year with other reductions for the remaining two years (2022-23 and 2023-24).”

Additionally, the elementary school has a “convenient” location. Crestview’s building is pinpointed in the eye of Cottage Grove’s other elementary schools. Nielsen claimed that “there would be no increase in school bus routes or transportation costs’’, because of that fact. Lastly, if Crestview’s operations ended, the building could be renewed to satisfy a need within SWCS’s Long-Range Facility Planning Process in the approaching years. The Long-Range Facility Planning Process is a virtual handbook that displays the district’s specific means to renovate and extend each of their buildings. Whether it’s installing extra restrooms, improving cafeterias, or constructing new schools, some of the objectives estimate an increase in a facility’s capacity. SWCS has paused all of the plans within the virtual handbook in March of 2020. However, the significance of the Long-Range Facility Planning Process remains. “Over the next 10 years, more than 3,500 potential new K-12 students are expected to move into District 833. Most of this growth is expected to occur at the sec- ondary level,” it reads on the SWCS website.

Despite the committee’s reasoning, select Cottage Grove residents still displayed numerous concerns regarding the potential closure of Crestview at Wednesday’s rally. The Journal recorded three of their cries.

First, protesters voiced that elementary classrooms in Cottage Grove would become overcrowded if School Board members approve the budget-cut. One boy held a sign reading, “833…don’t crowd our schools!” Furthermore, after Allison Blaskowski signed the “Save Crestview Elementary School” petition, she stated in the comment section, “I know that the schools in this district are already far too crowded as is. There is NO MORE ROOM in any of the other elementary schools in CG. Kindergarten classes should not have 30+ students like they do now in some of these schools…”

A contributor of The Journal, reporter Bruce Karnick, recorded a second issue that was discussed at Wednesday’s rally. One source, who would rather remain anonymous, told him that the proposed budget adjustment seems unjust towards minority students. “In our school district, we have 16 elementary schools. Three out of those 16 are 50% students of color. They want to close one of the three. That’s my problem. We have a district who prides themselves in equity and relationships, and yet they’re going to close a school that will impede that tremendously.”

These words reflect one of the assertions scribed within the Change.org petition. “Crestview has the most diverse student body, and this is a direct assault on the most vulnerable members of our community, violating the District’s own Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion policies,” Cueller claimed.

FOX 9 News Reporter, Mitti Hicks, was present at the rally as well. She captured the heavy emotions that protesters experienced, aware that their neighborhood school may disappear. “The school itself is just such an important part of the neighborhood and the teachers are amazing and it’s just heartbreaking to even comprehend the fact that they’d be closing it,” a former student of Crestview, Katie Horton, told Hicks.

Many participants of Wednesday’s protest likely related to Horton’s attachment to Crestview. In fact, a handful of the online petition’s undersigned left comments that illustrate a passion for Crestview. Rebecca Armstrong added, “We absolutely LOVE the school and the family atmosphere that the teachers and staff provide,” and Beth McClain declared, “It is a neighborhood school that is worth saving.”

The School Board will either approve or deny the proposed budget adjustment in just a few short days, on January 21st. Due to the fact that an entire school’s future is at stake, the district is welcoming input from the community until then. If one would like to share their opinions with SWCS, they may navigate to sowashco.org/contact_ us . Every ounce of feedback submitted through this form will be shared with the School Board, as assured by Nielsen. Cueller provided words of encouragement to her petition’s supporters, “[School Board members] are reading your arguments & pleas from the petition, emails, and social media. There is still hope to sway the Board Members to act with prudence and not make permanent cuts at the expense of our students.”

Even so, the possibility of ending Crestview’s services remains. Nielsen, in early January, prepared the impacted families, “If the proposal to close Crestview Elementary is approved, we will create a transition team that includes parents, staff and community members… Adjustments to the school boundaries, that define where a student would attend school in the fall, would be shared once the decision is made,” Nielsen continued apologetically, “I know this is sad and disappointing news, especially for all the families and staff who have dedicated their time and support to Crestview Elementary over the years. Choosing to close a school is a tough decision and one I wish we could avoid.”

Dozens of supporters display signs of support for keeping Crestview Elementary open. The school district is discussing the closure of Crestview as an opportunity to save $1 million a year.Photo by Bruce Karnick