Superintendent Dr. Massey told the Forest Lake Area Schools board the district is beginning the school year with growth in enrollment, new grade-configuration changes and added student supports.

Districtwide enrollment was presented at 5,612 students, about 157 students over the count used for the district budget and 63 students above last year’s ending enrollment, Dr. Massey said. He said the increase comes primarily from students transferring in from charter schools, homeschooling and neighboring districts; housing development accounted for a small portion of the growth.

Dr. Massey reviewed the district's reimagined 2025 plan, which for the first time moved sixth graders into the middle school. He said that after staffing adjustments, average class sizes in core middle-school classes are projected to remain between 26 and 28 — similar to previous sixth-grade averages — and that enrollment for sixth grade was projected to be up by 49 students compared with the prior fifth-grade cohort.

The district also completed a consolidation of Forest Lake Elementary and Forest View Elementary. The newly consolidated school is projected to open with about 491 students; the district added counseling/social-work capacity for that building.

As part of the achievement and integration (ANI) plan, Dr. Massey said the district will expand activity buses. In addition to an existing Thursday route, ANI-funded activity buses will run Tuesdays and Wednesdays beginning the second week of school to transport secondary students who stay for targeted academic services and students participating in activities. Targeted services for literacy and math are expected to begin in October and are separate from routine after-school homework help; staff said those programs will be organized around skill development identified by classroom assessments.

Board members praised principals and staff for the planning work, asked for monitoring of activity-bus utilization and requested follow-up reports on whether targeted services and expanded busing meet demand. One board member asked for a small-group review of the district strategic plan before the Sept. 18 meeting to allow directors to dig into goals and next steps.

Ending
Administration will track and report back on activity-bus usage and on how class sizes and staffing perform during the opening weeks; small-group meetings on the strategic plan will be scheduled before a fuller board discussion on Sept. 18.