As the Minneapolis School District edges toward its most sweeping readjustment in many years, Northeast will bear little of the brunt of the “school transformation.”
The school board on Sept. 15 announced the potential closing of 16 schools. The plan was immediately denounced by the district’s teachers’ union and by some parent groups. The Edison area will lose one, and possibly two, schools.
The district has been working on the transformation plan for about three years. The district has room for 50,000 students but only has about 28,000 enrolled. Many of the district’s schools are old, and many have small student bodies.
Three options were announced for Northeast. One area school, Webster Elementary, would close under one of the options. Another school that feeds into the Edison High School “pathway,” Pratt Elementary in Southeast Minneapolis, would close in all three options.
Heritage Academy, a high school in South Minneapolis, could merge with Edison High School under a school-closure plan proposed by the Minneapolis School District. (Minneapolis Public Schools website)
One other change likely if the plan is approved by board action in November is moving the Somali heritage high school, which is now located in South Minneapolis, to Edison.
The school, called Heritage Academy, is 99% Somali and is also a STEM school, emphasizing science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Edison is already home to a Career and Technical Education program, a separate school that targets technical education.
At the Sept. 15 board meeting, staff emphasized that the cuts were not necessarily aimed at closing the district’s annual budget shortfalls — although having fewer buildings would likely result in cost savings — but rather at improving and increasing educational offerings across the district.
A school with 200 students, staff said, can probably only afford regular classroom teachers, while a school with 600 students can offer students music and art along with a full-time librarian.
Some parents, however, would argue that there is great value in small, neighborhood schools.
Board Chairman Collin Beachy said in an interview with KMSP-TV, “So, for example, every elementary school should have a full-time librarian and all three arts options. And right now, we have too many schools that have to make a choice between those.
“And in order for us to provide those things, we may have to make some difficult decisions,” Beachy said.
School Board Member Abdul Abdi, who represents the Northeast district, was contacted three times to comment on the proposed changes, through his school board email and phone listing. He did not respond.
Northeast’s three options
The district staff broke the district into seven sub-districts at the September meeting, each anchored by the local high school. For each area, the staff offered three options. The options differed mainly over which schools would close and where the students from those schools would transfer to.
In Northeast, the three options suggested included:
Option 1: The “footprint” of the Edison pathway would stay much the same, with the entire area on the northeast side of the Mississippi River. Pratt School in Southeast Minneapolis would close and its students would attend Pillsbury or Dowling elementary schools.
Webster Elementary, at 425 5th St. NE, would close and its students would transfer to Pillsbury, Kenwood, Nellie Stone Johnson or Whittier elementaries. Those transferring to Pillsbury would still be on the Edison pathway, while students at Kenwood and Nellie Stone Johnson would be on the North High School pathway and students at Whittier would be on the South High School pathway.
Waite Park and Pillsbury would be the two remaining elementaries in Northeast, although some Pillsbury students would transfer to Waite Park.
In all three options, the Somali Heritage Language and Culture programming would move from South Minneapolis to Edison. The school has about 70 students.
At present, only 19% of students in the Edison pathway go to an “optimally-sized school.” In Option 1, that number would increase to 63%. An “optimally-sized” school would be large enough to provide additional teachers in the arts and a full-time librarian.
There would be 2,300 students in the Edison pathway, a decrease of about 200 students.
Option 2: The Edison pathway footprint would now include a large area on the west side of the river. Pratt would close, but Webster would stay open. Students from Pratt would go to Webster, while some students from Webster would go to Nellie Stone Johnson or Whittier elementaries. Those going to Nellie Stone Johnson would then be in the North pathway while the Whittier students would be in the South pathway.
The number of students attending optimally-sized schools in Option 2 would increase to 53%. The number of students in the Edison pathway would increase to 2,534 students or about 140 more than at this time.
Option 3: The Edison footprint would include a slightly larger area than Option 2, again including a major area on the west side of the river. Pratt would close while Webster would stay open. Students from Pratt would go to Webster or Pillsbury. In this option, all students in the footprint would be in the Edison pathway.
The size of the Edison pathway would increase to 2,685 students, or about 200 more than at this time. The number of students in optimally-sized schools would increase to 68%.
In Options 2 and 3, additional students from the west side of the river would attend Northeast schools.
Public engagement
The School Board has sought input from community members in a series of “listening sessions” at the seven high schools. The Edison meeting was held Oct. 2.
Meetings will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 7 at North High School, on Oct. 8 at Southwest High School and on Oct. 9 at Roosevelt High School.
Parents push back on MPS closures
About 100 people gathered at Edison High School on Friday, Oct. 2, to tell Minneapolis School District leadership their thoughts about a plan that could close as many as 14 schools.
Nearly 40 people made statements or asked questions of the panel which included Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams and the other top officers. While some residents said they had sympathy for the school board and the problems the district faced, not one speaker endorsed the district’s proposed “transformation” plan.
Areas of concern were the closing of Pratt Elementary School, the only elementary in Southeast Minneapolis, the bad results of previous school transformations, the lack of time for public input into the board’s decision in November and unclear language in explaining the transformation plan.
One Pratt parent said, “Don’t close Pratt. Your plan is long on jargon and double-speak but short on evidence and common sense.”
Another parent whose child attends Waite Park Elementary said the plan was eroding any good feelings the district might have with the parents and community. “It’s like something fundamental is cracking. It seems like you’re tone deaf. Please take another year to think about this.”
Several parents and teachers asked that the transformation plan be delayed so there could be more public input and more study.
The district is in the process of conducting seven community engagement sessions. After that, the board will continue to discuss the plan, but it is expected to make a decision in November so the closures would take place beginning with next school year.
Several Somali parents and teachers questioned the part of the plan that would close Heritage Academy in South Minneapolis and send students to Sullivan School for K-8 and to Edison for high school.
Questioners asked how many students and teachers would be lost if the schools are closed.
The transformation plan includes three options for the board to consider. Pratt would close under all three options while Webster, an elementary in Northeast, would close in one of the options.
One Webster parent said closing the school “would destroy our community.”
Another parent noted that if the board decides on the plan in November, just after the election, it would be a “lame-duck” board with several members retiring or possibly losing in the election. The speaker said the plan should be put off until the new board is seated in January.
A speaker asked how many in the room were opposed to closing schools, and about 80 percent of the people in the room raised their hands.
School Board members Sharon El-Amin, Abdul Abdi and Kim Ellison attended the meeting, as did legislative members Sen. Doran Clark, DFL-Minneapolis, and Rep. Sydney Jordan, DFL-Minneapolis.