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Minneapolis school board members will consider Tuesday whether to pause a controversial plan to close or merge at least 14 schools next year.
Why it matters: After years of cutbacks, Minneapolis Public Schools officials say they need to consolidate resources on fewer campuses to build attractive programs and replenish the district's enrollment pipeline.
- But many critics argue the closures would do the opposite: destabilize the district and send more parents fleeing for charter schools or other districts.
Driving the news: MPS board members Greta Callahan and Sharon El-Amin plan to introduce a resolution at Tuesday night's meeting that would pause any closures until at least 2028.
- Callahan told KARE 11 the district's proposal itself may have already spooked parents into leaving: "We need to stop the bleeding."
The big picture: More than two-thirds of MPS buildings are currently less than 70% full — but some of these under-capacity schools would remain open under Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams' proposal.
- The three plans MPS is weighing each target schools with smaller enrollments, even if their building is closer to full. In such schools, district officials say it's harder to sustain comprehensive programs beyond the basics.
Zoom in: Loring Elementary on the North Side is 80% full, but parent Robin Nelson suspects it was pegged for closure because of its 315 students — an enrollment below the district average (374) for a K–5 school.
What they're saying: "I was absolutely blindsided," Nelson tells Axios. "We wanted to choose a small community school to have that personal relationship with our teachers."
The other side: "There is a connection between stable staffing and consistent programming and the size of the school," MPS deputy superintendent Ty Thompson told a community meeting at North High School last week.
- Facility data released by MPS shows schools pegged for closure tended to have fewer rooms available for special education, specialists and preschool classes.
What's next: Callahan and El-Amin's school board resolution says MPS leaders should devote their energies to enrollment-boosting strategies and unwind parts of the district's 2020 redesign of its attendance boundaries and magnet programs.
- The board's Tuesday agenda lists only a "non-action" discussion item on the school closure plans, but Callahan told Axios she'll move to amend the agenda to introduce her resolution.
What we're watching: Pushback from local elected officials has been widespread.
- The Minneapolis City Council will also take up its own (nonbinding) resolution opposing the closures on Tuesday. It's supported by a supermajority of its members.