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Albert Lea board approves 'Option One' to reconfigure grades and close an elementary site
Summary
The school board voted 7-0 to implement 'Option One,' closing one elementary site and reconfiguring schools so three elementaries serve K–4, SWMS becomes grades 5–6, and ALHS will serve grades 7–12; the district will also explore a future move to two K–3 schools.
The Albert Lea Area Schools board voted unanimously to proceed with 'Option One,' a district reconfiguration plan that includes closing one elementary school site and restructuring grade spans across the district. The motion to approve the recommendation from Dr. Steve Heil and Sal Bagley (Wold) was moved by Neal Skaar and seconded by Angie Hoffman and carried 7-0.
Under Option One the three remaining elementary schools would be configured to serve kindergarten through fourth grade; Southview Middle School (SWMS) would be converted into an intermediate school serving grades five and six; and Albert Lea High School (ALHS) would be reconfigured to serve grades seven through 12 (with grades seven and eight operating as a middle school and grades nine through 12 as the high school). The board also directed administration to explore the potential to close an additional elementary site in the future and to study a two-K–3-school model that would shift fourth grade to the intermediate school. District staff presented the recommendation and a summary of related budget adjustments for the 2026–2027 school year during the same agenda item.
