Author: Jim Bayer

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” – Plato When she was a student at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, Jill Boyd was focused on a music therapy major. But she wanted to accomplish more than just using music to heal. She wanted to use music to reach people. So she combined her interest in music and her desire to bring music to children she felt would benefit. She added special education classes and created her own educational path before landing as a student teacher at Eden…

The Eden Prairie School Board welcomed three new members and elected a new leadership at its Jan. 4 organizational meeting. New members elected in November are: Beth Fletcher, a formal middle school math teacher, past president of the Prairie View Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) and the District PTO, and a mother of three. Kim Ross, who served on the School Board from 2008-11, and mentor at Eden Prairie High School. C. J. Strehl, a father of four students in the Eden Prairie district with a background in finance and accounting. They join current board members Adam Seidel, Debjyoti “DD” Dwivedy,…

Eden Prairie Schools Eden Prairie Schools reports updated 14-day COVID-19 cases among students and staff every Friday. EPLN will report that information each week. 12/18 – 1/1/21 Staff – 3 cases Students – 3 cases (Note: Eden Prairie Schools has 1,825 staff members and 8,768 students. Total staff is all district employees, including coaches, advisors, and reserve staff.) City of Eden Prairie/Hennepin County and Surrounding Cities Hennepin County and the City of Eden Prairie report 14-day COVID positive rates per 10,000 residents. EPLN will report information for Eden Prairie, Hennepin County and a few cities contiguous to Eden Prairie each…

Annual financial reports, whether for a business, schools, or even your own household, are not the finest ingredients for the making of a great Netflix series or even a decent documentary – much less for leisure reading. Columns and rows of numbers and percentages, references to fiscal years, funding streams and anticipated expenditures can be mind numbing. But if you look a bit deeper, they can provide some fascinating information. EPLN took a closer look at the 2020 Eden Prairie School District’s Annual Financial Report and found several to consider: School lunches $2.65 – the cost of a school lunch…

The reduction in residential tax is largely due to a property valuation increase of $462 million for all properties in the district – residential, commercial, industrial – spreading tax payments over a broader base, according to Jason Mutzenberger, executive director of business services of the Eden Prairie School District.

Eden Prairie Schools Eden Prairie Schools reports updated 14-day COVID-19 cases among students and staff every Friday. EPLN will report that information each week. 12/4 – 12/18 Staff – 9 cases Students – 18 cases (Note: Eden Prairie Schools has 1,825 staff members and 8,768 students. Total staff is all district employees, including coaches, advisors, and reserve staff.) City of Eden Prairie/Hennepin County and Surrounding Cities Hennepin County and the City of Eden Prairie report 14-day COVID positive rates per 10,000 residents. EPLN will report information for Eden Prairie, Hennepin County and a few cities contiguous to Eden Prairie each…

Distance learning continues Jan. 4 for Eden Prairie students in grades 3-12. However, the district’s youngest students will be back to school in person Jan. 6 and grades 3-6 will follow within a month, according to a post on the district website Dec. 19. Kindergarten and 1st grade students will return to in-person learning Jan. 6 following two days of teacher planning after winter break. Second grade students return to the hybrid model on Jan. 6. Grades 2-5 will return to in-person learning on Jan. 20 and grade 6 on Feb. 3. Grades 3-6 will not have school Jan. 15…

Eden Prairie School Board Member Veronica Stoltz has apologized for conduct following the Aug. 24, 2020 board meeting . On Nov. 9, the school board determined Stoltz’s Aug. 24 conduct violated several Code of Conduct policies. Starting in late November, posts on social media have expressed confusion about what led the school board to take actions on Stoltz’s Aug. 24 conduct, as noted in a previous EPLN article. Discussion prior to Dec. 14 apology statement Before reading her statement at the board’s Dec. 14 meeting, Stoltz asked the board for clarification as to her ability to speak publicly about the…

Eden Prairie Schools Eden Prairie Schools reports updated 14-day COVID-19 cases among students and staff every Friday. EPLN will report that information each week. 11/27 – 12/11 Staff – 13 cases Students – 13 cases (Note: Eden Prairie Schools has 1,825 staff members and 8,768 students. Total staff is all district employees, including coaches, advisors, and reserve staff.) City of Eden Prairie/Hennepin County and Surrounding Cities Hennepin County and the City of Eden Prairie report 14-day COVID positive rates per 10,000 residents. EPLN will report information for Eden Prairie, Hennepin County and a few cities contiguous to Eden Prairie each…

Eden Prairie High School (EPHS) and Central Middle School (CMS) will start from 45 minutes to 1 hour and 45 minutes later next year if the school board approves the recommendations of a district task force in January. The school board is accepting comments on the EP school start time plan through Jan. 15 on its website. Research that the task force used in making its recommendation also is available on that site. If recommendations are approved, CMS would start at 9:25 a.m. and end at 4:07 p.m. EPHS would begin at 8:35 a.m. and end at 3:20 p.m. under…