The last comment is incorrect. State funding travels with the student to the district they attend. The Minnetonka district estimates that they actually profit from open enrollment because it costs them less to service the open enrolled students compared with the amount they receive from the state for those students.

It has been pointed out a number of times that this situation is not unique. I lived in Plymouth and I was in the Wayzata School District. Ask any realtor and they will tell you it is pretty clear when you buy a house that people know what school district they are buying in to.

Homes for sale in some school districts attract more potential home buyers, who are also willing to pay more money for the ability to send their children to a school district with higher ratings and test scores, etc. (www.greatschools.com). Thus, property owners in a highly rated school district will potentially attract a better price for their home when they decide to sell. The bottom line financial benefit in terms of property value for being located in one school district vs. another for the homeowners in Unite 273 for some reason is not being openly discussed. The question now, is whether Hopkins School District is willing to give up the property tax money it receives from the Unite 273 homeowners. It's all about the money honey.

Some good points have been raised in response to this article that I would like to address. According to a recent Hopkins schools document, 70% of their funding comes from the state and 21% from property taxes. We understand that the state funding follows the child but we feel it is appropriate that our property tax dollars go, to the extent possible, to the schools and classrooms where are children are actually being educated. If you use 25 as an average class size, the number of children from our neighborhood enrolled in Hopkins schools equates to 0.36 teachers/classrooms while the number of children enrolled in Edina schools equates to 5.32 teachers/classrooms. Over the years, Hopkins schools has closed the schools that were closest to our neighborhood while Edina operates five schools (at all three levels) in close proximity to our neighborhood. We do not drive past Hopkins schools in order to reach Edina schools. The Edina schools are here, the Hopkins schools are not. Finally, to clarify one point from the article, we estimate that 6-12 students would move into Edina schools in the first year or two post-detachment, however, only 1-2 of these are expected to shift from Hopkins schools to Edina schools during the initial years.

Ryan, that is correct.

I ask this.... These boundary lines for the school district are not new, why did these families move into this area and now dispute where their property tax dollars go? Why did they not purchase homes within the Edina school district lines if their intention was to send their children there? Does this mean that all property taxes for all out of district children be sent to the school district they now attend?? This sure sets up some interesting challenges/questions for our out of district open enrollment throughout our state doesn't it?

If the Hopkins School District cannot maintain standards high enough to retain a majority of students from certain neighborhoods, they should not be allowed to prevent that neighborhood from detaching. With open enrollment available and several neighboring districts providing substantially better levels of instruction (resulting in better opportunities for students) the families in these neighborhoods will continue to seek alternative public and private options for their children.
The point that Cathy Ovsak makes is true. Property values do increase inside of certain districts. In fact, many of the people who own homes in the Hopkins district were willing to pay a premium price simply to be in the district because it was considered the "gold standard" in this part of the metro at the time that they purchased their home. When a whole neighborhood is in agreement about detaching, whether it is about property values or school district preferance, the residents of the neighborhood and the preferred school district should be able to make that decision, not the current school district, especially in the case where the residents live in the city of the school district that they would like to be attached.
Full disclosure: We specifically bought our MTKA home because it was in the Hopkins District. After 2 years, we open enrolled our student to MTKA schools, as have many of our neighbors. Families shouldn't be punished for the choices of the school board and superintendent.

I have been a parent in the Hopkins school district since 1996. That is 16 years of experience. I have 3 years left until my last child will graduate.
In this time I have been nothing but satisfied with the education that my children have received, the experiences they have had and the culture and values that have made this an exceptional educational foundation.
I asked each of my 4 boys (22, 20, 17 and 15) about their Hopkins Schools experience – they each attended Alice Smith Elementary, North Junior High and the High School. Each of them has valued the education they are receiving/have received , the wonderful educators who have inspired them, the experiences they have had. Each made a point of saying that being educated in a multi-cultural school system was important to them and they believe that this experience has given them greater insights, empathy and understanding of the real world around them.

Continued...
What is our goal for education? I believe education is much more than simply test scores, how much knowledge is crammed inside their brains , how well the average student scores in standardized tests. In the Hopkins schools, I have seen my children grow up to be compassionate intelligent free-thinking well rounded young men. That is what I consider to be a great education!
Although it is good to see the Edina parents being advocates for their own children I see this is a disturbing trend. It is my understanding, that in a similar way, a group of parents from another area of Edina have chosen to open enroll their children at Glen Lake rather than their local school of Alice Smith Elementary. I believe that if a parent is dissatisfied with the education their child is getting they should work through their teacher, the principal and the school board to address their issues. If , as I suspect, that for some parents this is not so much about the education but the cultural environment of the school then I find this to be very disturbing!

The tribune 12/15/12 article mentioned: 'forgo longer bus rides to Hopkins schools' I doubt that they ride the bus, as their trophy wife mothers drive them to school in their Mercedes SUVs. And only nine children from Parkwood Knolls attends Hopkins schools... then why the whining.

I think the most interesting aspect of this whole debacle is why the parents from the Edina area think that the Edina school district is 'better' than the Hopkins school district.
Obviously if that perception is there it could be good for real estate prices, but are Edina schools really offering a better education than Hopkins?

First of all we have to agree on what is their measure of better? This is a challenge in itself, but before charging down this path we have to look at the demographics of each school district's students.

Edina schools has less than 9% students in free and reduced lunch. Hopkins has close to 40%

Edina has 3.2% ELL students, Hopkins has 11% ELL students.

Does this make a difference to the school districts average students test scores? Of course it does!

Does it make any difference to YOUR child's average test scores? Probably not!
continued in next comment....

Continued from above...

Each school distict is hiring from the same group of teachers in the twin cities pool. I think could reasonably argue that the teacher population is not much different between Hopkins and Edina.
The schools get a similar amount of money per child and have similar expenses. So what miracle is Edina performing to improve its test results - it has students who come from middle class to
affluent backgrounds who have English as their first language! Again I want to emphasize the most important point - for most children in the South West suburbs their success and test scores will probably not
be any different between any of the school districts. The average in Hopkins schools is weighed down by the population of students from which it draws and the more white middle class flight that occurs the
more distinct the average test scores between Edina and Hopkins will become and so the parents who have chosen to open enroll in Edina will be vindicated and will point back and say
"Gosh, the Hopkins school district is getting worse and worse!"
- and as we can see they would be wrong!

The comments made by Victor are really hateful.

Why is it so bad that these parents want to send their children to nearby schools? It would be better for the environment, and better for the children.

And why should the Hopkins school board be allowed to hold children hostage for no reason other than money?