Days after parents were notified about a plan that could affect where their elementary schoolers will attend class in the fall, they got a chance to ask Duluth district administrators and school principles about the decision.

On January 8, parents with kids in Lowell Elementary’s Spanish immersion program were notified that starting in the fall, several students would instead be transferred to nearby Myers-Wilkins Elementary.

The following week, on January 13, the district held a meeting with the parents in an attempt to answer questions and concerns.

“I just feel like many of us were left unable to support our children because we had no idea this was coming.” One parent said. Many shared her sentiment, upset at the way the announcement was made, without any discussion with parents.  

Superintendent John Magas agreed, acknowledging and apologizing for the way the announcement was made. He was, however, firm in the decision.

“It seems like a decision was made in a top-down way,” Magas explained, “Because it was. And sometimes that’s hard.” He cited previous controversy surrounding elementary school boundary drawings as one of the reasons for the decision to be made without parental input.

Including both in-person and online listeners, well over 100 attended the meeting, which lasted over two hours.

Parents have been notified that no exceptions will be made to the plan, which will relocate the students to Myers-Wilkins based on which elementary school boundary they live in.