Itasca Area Schools Collaborative outlines career pathways, special-education co-op and sharp cuts to preschool program

Jackie Skelly, executive director of the Itasca Area Schools Collaborative, and Darla Rani, director of early learning for the collaborative, presented an overview of IASC’s programs and described steep reductions planned for preschool services after a long-running Blandin Foundation grant winds down.

Skelly told the board that IASC provides four main services—career pathways, technology services, special-education cooperative services and early-learning programs—and that the collaborative’s model uses district contributions, grants/donations and business partnerships to sustain programs. She said career pathways participation includes all seven partner districts this year, and that the collaborative has added high-demand courses such as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) course.

Rani outlined current early-learning operations and the funding mix that supports them, and then summarized program changes being planned for next year. IASC currently operates 18 preschool classrooms across four Itasca County districts (seven classrooms in the Grand Rapids area), 22 early childhood family education (ECFE) classes and serves 303 preschool students. Rani said state funding streams that support preschool work include School Readiness, Voluntary Pre-K, ECFE allocations, Early Learning Scholarships and funding generated by Early Childhood Special Education placements, plus tuition and the Blandin Foundation grant. She said the Blandin Foundation grant has supplied roughly half of the preschool operating budget.

Because the Blandin Foundation grant is ending this year, Rani said IASC’s plan for the coming year will reduce preschool classrooms from 18 to nine across three districts (Deer River, Grand Rapids and Nashwauk-Keewatin) and cut projected preschool enrollment from 303 students to about 180. She said the collaborative intends to maintain roughly 100 preschool seats between Grand Rapids and Bigfork while increasing some classroom sizes to preserve capacity. Programs cut or reduced as part of the reconfiguration include infant-toddler programming, some before- and after-school offerings and summer classes.

Board members asked how Preschool seat allocations work when demand exceeds state-funded seats. Rani said when more families apply than available Voluntary Pre-K (VPK) seats, IASC uses an eligibility flowchart that prioritizes district residents and then ranks applicants by risk factors and timing of application. On Greenway’s decision to opt out of IASC-run early childhood programming next year, Rani and Skelly said school-district leaders weighed the changed revenue picture and the uncertainty about which funding stream will attach to an enrolled child; they described that decision as largely a financial and risk-based choice by Greenway.

Skelly described the collaborative’s technology-service pillar—shared wireless/security work, E-rate assistance and a half-time position sold to IASC—and the special-education co-op that shares specialists (OTs, PTs, DHH staff) across districts and runs programs such as the PACE Lab, a work-skills assessment lab for students with cognitive disabilities. She credited partnership with Minnesota North College and noted the cooperative approach allows districts to buy into only the services they need.

Board members pressed for more detail about the Blandin grant’s past evaluation. Rani said the most recent Wilder Research report she could identify dates to around 2016 and indicated Invest Early showed positive returns, but she said no long-term longitudinal studies had been conducted more recently.

Skelly and Rani said IASC continues seeking grants and business partnerships and is examining staffing and program adjustments to operate within smaller revenues. They emphasized that some district leaders may opt to provide preschool services locally rather than purchase IASC services. The presenters invited board members to review IASC program pages and noted the collaborative’s website lists participating districts and program contacts.

The presentation concluded with questions about enrollment management, seat allocations, program priorities and how IASC will use multiple funding streams to keep seats available for district families. Board members said they were supportive of efforts to sustain core services while asking IASC to return with more detail as planning progresses.

The board adjourned the workshop portion and said it would reconvene for the regular meeting later in the evening.