Original Research by School Decision on Options
OPTIONS was an alternative school serving middle school grades in Burnsville, but it is now closed. It operated as part of Intermediate School District 917, an intermediate district that provides specialized services such as special education, career and technical education, and alternative learning programs across nine member districts in the south Twin Cities metro area. Because the school is no longer open, any available data captures only its final years of operation, and the context it offers is historical rather than current for a family looking for a school to attend today.
Burnsville itself is a large, built-out suburb on the southern edge of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. The city grew rapidly after the construction of Interstate 35 and was considered fully developed by the late 2000s. Recent efforts have focused on redevelopment, particularly the 54-acre “Heart of the City” district, an urban-style downtown with retail, condominiums, and the Ames Performing Arts Center. The housing market reflects the broader metro area trends, with home values and rents both rising at a modest pace. Commuting is car-dependent for most residents, though the Burnsville Transit Station provides regional bus service. Major employers include the local school district, Fairview Ridges Hospital, and several distribution and manufacturing firms. The city has an extensive park system and borders the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge.
State testing data for OPTIONS is almost entirely suppressed, with only very small tested counts reported. In math, both seventh and eighth grade groups had no more than three test-takers each, and proficiency results were suppressed to protect student privacy. In English language arts, the seventh grade group had two test-takers and the eighth grade group had three. Participation rates ranged from nearly full to full. The science assessment for eighth grade also showed three test-takers with suppressed results. The very small student numbers are typical of an alternative school serving a specialized population, and these results should not be compared to the larger comprehensive schools in the area. They offer no meaningful picture of academic performance for the general public.
Enrollment and demographic data, including counts by race and ethnicity, free or reduced-price meal eligibility, special education status, and English learner status, are all missing from the record. Discipline data, staff counts, course access information, and graduation rate data are also absent. Because the school served only middle school grades and is now closed, the absence of a graduation rate reflects the fact that it did not serve high school students, not a shortcoming. The lack of most other data fields likely reflects the alternative nature of the school and the fact that it has ceased operations, so the dataset was not maintained for a closed entity.
A parent reading about OPTIONS today would be researching a school that no longer exists. Intermediate School District 917 continues to operate, and it provides alternative learning programs through other sites for its member districts. For anyone looking into the district’s current offerings, direct inquiry with the district would be necessary to learn what alternative programs are available and where they are located. The data for this specific school cannot support any judgment about its past quality or its fit for a student, because the academic picture is obscured by suppression and the operational record is closed.
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