• Advertise
  • Donate
  • Subscribe
    • Become a print subscriber
    • Sign up for e-Newsletter
    • e-Editions
Monday, May 29, 2023
No Result
View All Result
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
  • News & Features
    • National
    • Local
    • Special Editions
      • MLK Legacy
      • Black History Month
      • The MSR Celebrates Women’s History Month
  • All Sections
    • Opinion
      • Mellaneous by Mel Reeves
      • Word on the Street
      • Reaching Out From Within
    • Health + Wellness
      • Minnesota Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Sports
      • Timberwolves/NBA
      • Lynx/WNBA
        • 20 in 20
      • Twins/MLB
      • MN Wild/NHL
      • Vikings/NFL
    • Business
      • Small Business Month Celebration
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
    • Arts + Culture
    • Photo Galleries
    • MSR Forefront Digital Roundtable Series
      • MSR Forefront Highlights
    • Go Green
    • Education
    • Bulletin
    • Jobs & Opportunities
      • Legals
  • Events
    • Submit an event!
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • e-Editions
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
  • News & Features
    • National
    • Local
    • Special Editions
      • MLK Legacy
      • Black History Month
      • The MSR Celebrates Women’s History Month
  • All Sections
    • Opinion
      • Mellaneous by Mel Reeves
      • Word on the Street
      • Reaching Out From Within
    • Health + Wellness
      • Minnesota Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Sports
      • Timberwolves/NBA
      • Lynx/WNBA
        • 20 in 20
      • Twins/MLB
      • MN Wild/NHL
      • Vikings/NFL
    • Business
      • Small Business Month Celebration
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
    • Arts + Culture
    • Photo Galleries
    • MSR Forefront Digital Roundtable Series
      • MSR Forefront Highlights
    • Go Green
    • Education
    • Bulletin
    • Jobs & Opportunities
      • Legals
  • Events
    • Submit an event!
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • e-Editions
No Result
View All Result
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
No Result
View All Result

Mauri Friestleben reinstated as principal at North High School

by Cole Miska
May 23, 2022
146
SHARES
2.9k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on LinkedIn
University of St. Thomas Mauri Friestleben

Mauri Friestleben was reinstated as the principal of North High School on Sunday, after having been put on leave from her position by Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) on Friday, May 20 over a protocol violation in February.

“In early February, students across the state of Minnesota were planning and attending various forms of civil action in response to the shooting death of Amir Locke,” Friestleben wrote in a statement on Friday.

“MPS requires schools to follow protocols in times like that and I did not. Specifically, I encouraged our students to plan their own actions, I gave them examples of historical disobedience like sit-ins, and pledged to join them in their action.”

Friestleben attended a student walkout to City Hall on Feb. 9 in support of charges in the police shooting of Locke, which Friestleben said she was “strongly advised not to attend.”

MPS sent an automated call to North High families and released a statement Friday afternoon stating that Friestleben would be on leave and that Dr. Michael V. Walker would be acting as her replacement for the remainder of the school year.

- ADVERTISEMENT -

Some community members took to social media to react to the news.

“This is such a horrible loss,” Rudbeckia Hirta wrote in a Facebook post. “It is shocking and so wrong to dismiss such an amazing principal for this.”

MPS School Board Director Sharon El-Amin made a Facebook post on Friday night clarifying that the decision to put Friestleben on leave was not made by the school board, but by Superintendent Ed Graff’s administration.

“I support Mauri,” El-Amin said in her post. “The insensitivity, lack of community awareness and another bad decision being made on the backs of our Children, Families, and community is disgusting.”

The district released a second statement on Saturday clarifying that Friestleben had not been terminated but was still on leave.

- ADVERTISEMENT -

“If Principal Friestleben chooses to end her employment with MPS, her decision will be respected and her leadership will be missed,” the statement read.

Superintendent Graff sent a third statement to North High families Sunday afternoon to announce that Friestleben would remain as principal at North High through the end of the school year and apologized for the situation.

“We apologize for the difficulty this situation has caused the North community—and especially our Polar students,” Graff wrote in the statement. “Principal Friestleben will be welcoming students again at North on Monday.”

Victor Martinez, a former city council candidate who organized a Facebook group to push for Friestleben’s reinstatement, told the MSR that he did so because “Mauri is an amazing person. People like her don’t come along very often. She has given her heart to the Northside community. She is willing to take risks for us, and now we are willing to take risks for her.”

The activist group Minnesota Teen Activists had begun organizing a daily student walkout that was going to start Monday afternoon but canceled the idea when MPS announced Friestleben’s reinstatement.

- ADVERTISEMENT -

“Students have canceled the walk-out and rally at the Davis Center to re-strategize our demands now for principal Mauri to be permanently reinstated for the remaining school year,” the group said in an Instagram post.

The Minneapolis NAACP held a press conference outside MPS’ district offices at the Davis Center on Monday morning, demanding an investigation into the administrators that made the decision to put Friestleben on leave and calling for transparency into MPS’ firing policies.

“What policies were followed in her termination in the first place?” asked Minneapolis NAACP president Cynthia Wilson. “And secondly, if what she did was so egregious to be terminated, how all of a sudden did you decide you were going to bring her back on a Sunday?”

“You left the Black community high and dry; you left North High students high and dry; you left the Black parents and parents of these students high and dry, and we need some answers to what happened,” Wilson added.

In a second statement made after her reinstatement Sunday morning, Friestleben said she was “overwhelmed with gratitude” that she would be finishing out the year.

- ADVERTISEMENT -

“I am especially grateful to be back with my kids during these vulnerable times as relationship is what’s getting us through,” Friestleben said.

The district has not made a statement indicating whether Friestleben will continue as principal into the next school year.

Support Black local news

Help amplify Black voices by donating to the MSR. Your contribution enables critical coverage of issues affecting the community and empowers authentic storytelling.

Donate Now!

ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

Residents talk Third Precinct’s future

Next Post

VIDEO: Just Nipping Out: Diver’s Encounter With Amazing Arrow Crab

Cole Miska

Cole Miska is a contributing writer at the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.

You Might Also Like

Hackers release Minneapolis Public Schools data to dark web
Local

Hackers release Minneapolis Public Schools data to dark web

Mpls Public Schools data seized for ransom
Local

Mpls Public Schools data seized for ransom

MPS delays search for new superintendent
Local

MPS delays search for new superintendent

First flag football season could be the start of something big
Sports

First flag football season could be the start of something big

black couple doing presentation for studies in classroom
Education

It’s the law: Schools must inform students of college options but many are not

Mpls City Council newcomer Robin Wonsley-Worlobah lays out her vision
Education

Graff’s 6-year MPS tenure ends in discord

Next Post
Arrow Crab playing with diver at Blue Heron Bridge in West Palm Beach Florida. (@marine.biology.daily, Zachariah Miller/Zenger)

VIDEO: Just Nipping Out: Diver’s Encounter With Amazing Arrow Crab

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
ADVERTISEMENT

The Latest News

Community remembers, looks forward three years after George Floyd’s police killing

Community remembers, looks forward three years after George Floyd’s police killing

In history-making selection, Biden picks Gen. Charles ‘CQ’ Brown, Jr. as chair of Joint Chiefs of Staff

In history-making selection, Biden picks Gen. Charles ‘CQ’ Brown, Jr. as chair of Joint Chiefs of Staff

Black-owned farmers market in full swing this spring

Black-owned farmers market in full swing this spring

Honoring Black Americans’ role in the inception of Memorial Day

Honoring Black Americans’ role in the inception of Memorial Day

Saints pitcher Woods Richardson keeps on trying

Saints pitcher Woods Richardson keeps on trying

Black Business Spotlight: West Indies Soul Food

Black Business Spotlight: West Indies Soul Food

Minneapolis
◉
70°
Clear
5:31 am8:49 pm CDT
TueWedThuFriSat
84/66°F
88/66°F
86/68°F
90/66°F
88/64°F
Weather forecast Minneapolis, Minnesota ▸
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Upcoming Events

Apr 1
April 1 @ 7:30 pm-May 29 @ 9:00 pm Recurring

Wit by Margaret Edson

Apr 14
April 14 @ 9:00 am-August 12 @ 5:00 pm

Paper Is People: Decolonizing Global Paper Cultures

May 29
10:00 am-4:00 pm Recurring

Preserving Nature Photos by Walter Griffin: REFLECTIONS

May 29
10:30 am-4:00 pm

Memorial Day Community Celebration at Lakewood Cemetery

View Calendar

Read our latest e-Edition!

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Subscribe

  • Home/Office Delivery
  • Weekly e-newsletter
  • e-Editions

Support

  • Donate
  • Subscribe
  • MSR Newsstand Locations

Connect

  • About
    • MSR Staff
  • Contact
  • Send a news tip
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms

© 2023 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

No Result
View All Result
  • News & Features
    • Local
    • National
  • All Sections
    • Arts & Culture
    • Health & Wellness
      • MN Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Business
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
      • Small Business Month Celebration
    • Opinion
    • Sports
  • Events
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • Donate
  • Subscribe

© 2023 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

 

Loading Comments...