The Minneapolis Public Schools board reversed course and unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday night that will save 16 schools from being closed in the 2027-2028 school year as part of a Transformation Plan.
Over the last several weeks that included seven public meetings, board members along with Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams heard strong opposition to the plan which was set to be voted on in November.
“I’m recommending now the school board does not move forward with school closings and mergers at this time,” Sayles-Adams said.
Instead, the MPS board approved a resolution on Tuesday night that focuses on enrollment, growth strategies, early childhood enrollment, school choice assignment policies and procedures, and school start and end times. Sayles-Adams told board members and people sitting in the audience that while enrollment and budget issues wouldn't be going away, community concerns were a major factor behind her decision to halt the closures.
“While we heard many different perspectives and ideas, what came out most to me as we consider what’s next is that our community needs more time to process something so big and I want to be involved earlier and more deeply in developing possible solutions,” Sayles-Adams added.
Tuesday's vote came after Board Members Greta Callahan and Sharon El-Amin co-authored to delays the controversial vote in November.
MFE Local 59 applauded the school board's decision in a statement released after the meeting:
"We are incredibly thankful to our members, Minneapolis Public Schools families and the broader community for showing up and making your voices heard. The idea that we can “transform” Minneapolis Public Schools by shuttering 27% of the district has thankfully been proven to be a non-starter with the people of this city."
“Through all of this, I’ve been deeply frustrated by the fact that there is so much more that this plan could have been. Instead of taking the lazy path toward finding things that could be cut, the plans should have focused on meaningfully growing MPS. I am so glad that now we have an opportunity to build a plan that will do just that, but we need to be doing this together," wrote Marcia Howard, Teacher Chapter President of MFE Local 59.
Transformation Plan vote was set for November
Transformation Plan vote was set for November
