Welcome to the Rush City School District
Rush City Schools is located 50 miles north of Minneapolis/St. Paul on Interstate 35, minutes away from Rush Lake and the scenic St. Croix River. With strong community support the school system offers a variety of innovative educational programs in modern facilities. District students have a history of excellence in the classroom, on the athletic field, and in the fine arts.
Rush City Schools demonstrates its commitment to excellence by maintaining small class sizes, promoting quality instruction through ongoing staff development, encouraging open communication among staff, parents and community, and offering a wide variety of educational opportunities for students in the Fine Arts, Academics and Athletics.
To learn more about our District click here.
Good Luck on your retirement!
Plaques were presented to two employees after many years of service to
Rush City Schools.
Colleen Daniels - 23 years of service and Deb Guse - 22 years of service.
High Quality Schools for All Children No Matter the Zip Code
What happens if a family in one community pays $3.50 for a gallon of milk while a family in a neighboring community pays $10.50? What if the family pays three times as much for most of their every day necessities? Obviously, the quality of life for that family is greatly diminished. This scenario plays out today in schools all across Minnesota.
Back in the 1980s, many school districts struggled to provide a quality education for their students. The state funding per student was inadequate, and schools were forced to rely on voter-approved school levies just to provide the very basics. Because the taxpayer cost per levy dollar was based on the property wealth of each school district, those districts with significant commercial or industrial development held a distinct advantage. The larger tax base lowered the cost for all. Taxpayers in districts with mostly residential development paid two or three times as much for each levy dollar, and were unable to support sufficient levy revenue for their schools. As a result, Minnesota’s education system became one of “haves” and “have-nots,” with the quality of a child’s education dependent mainly upon their zip code.
Educators accused the Legislature of not meeting its constitutional obligation to provide a “general and uniform”system of public schools. In the resulting 1991 lawsuit, the appellate court agreed that reform was needed when differences in school funding were based merely on the property wealth of each school district. The Legislature responded with several measures to reduce the disparities. One major change was the adoption of an “equalization formula”, which is a match of state aid to make the cost of a levy dollar uniform across the state. Over the next several years, the funding disparity between school districts in the top five percent and the lowest five percent shrunk from 35% to 19%.
Unfortunately, the funding disparity has crept back up to 31%, mostly because the State Legislature has not adjusted the equalization formula since 1993. Equalization erosion has resulted in less levy revenue in low property wealth districts, and residents in some communities once again pay two or three time more for each levy dollar. For example, the state allows districts to have school levies up to $1,633 per pupil, and many do. The annual cost to a taxpayer per $100,000 of property value in a high property wealth school district for this levy amount is $151, while for residents and small business owners in the Rush City district the cost escalates to $409.
The time is now to bring greater equity to our schools. Students today won’t just compete against students in the next town or next state, they will compete against the entire world. All students must have equal access to a high quality education regardless of where they live in Minnesota. Many legislators recognize the need to make school levies more affordable in low property wealth districts. Contact your legislators today to say that increasing equalization must be part of the final budget agreement.
Written by Todd Anderson, President of Schools for Equity in Education (SEE). SEE is an association of 62 Minnesota School Districts, including Rush City, that serve nearly 250,000 students. SEE works to advocate for equity and adequacy in K-12 education funding and policy.
For more information,visit www.schoolsforequity.org.
Weather Emergency/School Closing Information
Listen to WCCO radio (830 AM), WCMP radio (1350 AM & 100.9 FM) or watch WCCO TV for school closing/weather emergency information.
2012-13 MCA Testing Dates:
High School
April 16 - 11th grade Math - Segments 1&2
April 16 - 9th grade Grad Writing
April 17 - 11th grade Math - Segments 3&4
April 23 - 9th grade Grad Writing make up
April 22 - 7th grade Math - Segment 1
April 23 - 7th grade Math - Segment 2
April 24 - 8th grade Math - Segment 1
April 25 - 8th grade Math - Segment 2
April 26 - Make up 7th & 8th Math
April 29 - 10th grade Grad Reading - Segment 1
April 30 - 10th grade Grad Reading - Segment 2
May 1 - 7th grade Reading
May 2 - 7th grade Reading
May 6 - 8th grade Reading
May 7 - 8th grade Reading
May 13 - 8th grade Science
May 14 - 8th grade Science
May 15 - 10th grade Science
May 16 - 10th grade Science
Elementary
March 19th - 5th grade Science
March 20th - 5th grade Science
March 21st - 5th grade Science
March 22nd - 5th grade Science Make up
April 10th - Reading
April 11th - Reading
April 15th - 18th - Reading
April 22nd - 25th - Math
April 29th & 30th - Math
District Newsletter
Our District Newsletter is produced in September, November, January, March and May of each school year. Click the following link to view the most current copy of our newsletter.
May 2013 Newsletter
District Notices
Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment Results
Non-Discrimination Notice
Minnesota Health Care Programs
Foreign Exchange Program
School Calendar
To view Rush City School Calendar, click on one of the following links:
2012-13 Activities Calendar
2012-13 School Calendar
2013-14 School Calendar