In a surprising reversal, the Minneapolis School Board on Oct. 13 decided not to close any schools in the district for the 2027-28 school year, including two schools in the Edison area.
The board had been looking at a plan that would have closed as many as 16 schools, including many neighborhood elementary schools.
The proposal over the past few weeks invoked a storm of public backlash, including at a recent community engagement meeting at Edison High School where more than 40 people testified — none of them in favor of the closings.
The regular school board meeting began with a dramatic announcement from Minneapolis District Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams. She first thanked the thousands of Minneapolis residents who responded to the school closure proposal.
“And the feedback we heard was ‘Not right now,’” Sayles-Adams said. “Clearly, my recommendation to the board is that we do not move ahead with any school closures at this time.”
The crowded boardroom at the district’s headquarters erupted in applause and cheering.
Board Chair Collin Beachy spoke next and also said the board would not move ahead with what was called a school transformation plan.
“We did not begin this process to close schools but to address the fact that not every child in the district receives the same education,” Beachy said. He acknowledged that the school closing plan “came too quickly” without enough chance for meaningful public input.
Beachy maintained, though, that the major problems the district is facing won’t go away without some kind of action.
Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education voted to rescind their proposal to close 16 school nest year. (Screen grab from MPS Board meeting on Oct. 13)
“I will not support closing schools for the 2027-28 school year,” Beachy said, pausing to calm his emotions. “We need to take a breath. We will follow the superintendent’s recommendations and see what happens after that.”
The announcements by the superintendent and the chair were not the end of the discussion, however, in the four-hour-plus meeting. Two board members introduced a resolution, calling for no school closings, and the board finally approved putting the resolution on the agenda by a 6-3 vote.
The resolution also contained a list of further steps for the board to undertake and gave the superintendent until February to come up with a plan of action for the board.
After several amendments and attempted amendments, the resolution passed unanimously. Director Greta Callahan, one of the sponsors of the resolution, said the board needed to “put in writing” the decision not to close schools. She said, “The city can take a big exhale tonight.”
The only school in Northeast that faced closure was Webster Elementary, and it was listed for closing only in one of three options the administration gave to the school board. Another school, Pratt Elementary in Southeast Minneapolis, would have been closed under any of the three options. Pratt students eventually would have followed a “pathway” to Edison High School.
Pratt parents, and other small elementary school parents, said at meetings that there was great value to the children and to the neighborhood to have a small, local elementary school.
The board acknowledged during the process that the goal was not necessarily to save money but to create larger schools with more teachers and more educational opportunities, especially in the area of arts, music and full-time librarians. More interventionists could also be hired to help children in reading and math.
The district has room for about 50,000 students, but has a current enrollment of about 29,000. Some of the buildings are a century old.