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<br />Mr. DeBruyn stated that he feels this is a misinterpretation and he never said that the school <br />thinks of Ramsey residents any differently than those of other communities. He stated that he <br />feels people make a very distinctive choice to send their children to PACT because of what they <br />have to offer children. He stated that he feels this is a very different statement than what <br />Councilmembers Dehen and Look are portraying and feels their interpretation is unfair. <br /> <br />. Mayor Gamec asked that only the facts be presented ahd not hearsay from both sides. <br /> <br />Councilmember Look again reviewed the minutes from the March 22, 2007 work session and <br />noted that statements were made about working together to provide services for the City and that <br />the school will never be able to meet all the needs of Ramsey. He asked what was meant by <br />"services" and "all the needs". <br /> <br />Mr. DeBruyn stated that his comments related to the fact that if all the students that lived in <br />Ramsey were shipped over to their school, they would not be able to handle the whole amount no <br />matter how many schools they built. He stated that their enrollment practices are following their <br />interpretation of the State Statute. <br /> <br />Councilmember Look stated that with the lottery practice, it is difficult for Ramsey students to <br />get in. <br /> <br />Mr. DeBruyn stated that they did not write the State Statute. <br /> <br />Councilmember Strommen stated that she also has to leaye the meeting by 9:00 p.m. because she <br />has a high school student babysitting and needs to get home. She stated that Councilmembers <br />Dehen and Look have been having conversations with the school since January and this is the <br />first time the Council is getting a chance to look at this. She stated that she does not feel she can <br />act on this, and wishes that it had come before the Council earlier. She stated that the ball is now <br />in motion and the tone is very different because of the legal situation. She stated that if the <br />Council could have entered into the conversation as a City to try to resolve this problem she feels <br />it could have been resolved in a friendlier manner. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dehen explained that it was the end of January before they got the opinion from <br />the Minnesota' Department of Education and his concern was that the lottery was scheduled for <br />early February. He stated that he had to act quickly to prevent the lottery from taking place <br />under the school's interpretation of the Statute. <br /> <br />Councilmember Strommen asked why they didn't come before the Council at that time, even <br />before the opinion from the Minnesota Department of Education, so they knew what the <br />discussions were. She stated that Councilmember Dehen is looking at this through a legal lens <br />because he keeps referring to this as a "case". <br /> <br />Councilmember Dehen stated that Mr. DeBruyn did not agree with the opinion by the Minnesota <br />Department of Education and wanted to get another opinion from the Attorney General. He <br />stated that this would be just another opinion and, as a father, Councilmember and a lawyer, he <br />had no indication that the lottery was going to be put off, so he pursued legal action. <br /> <br />City Council Work Session /Aprill, 2008 <br />Page 13 of 20 <br />