As MPS weighs school changes, North Side board member presses for proof of equity

As Minneapolis Public Schools considers three options that could close, merge or redraw attendance boundaries for schools across the city, the school board member representing North Minneapolis says the district must show that the communities hit hardest by past closures will come out ahead this time.

“Equity cannot simply mean spreading change around the city,” said Sharon El-Amin, who represents District 2 and founded Parents Alliance Reclaiming Our Schools (PAROS). “It has to mean that communities that have historically carried the greatest disruption can clearly see the investment, stability, and academic opportunities their children will receive on the other side of that change.”

MPS presented the three school transformation options to the School Board on Sept. 15. The district is collecting community feedback through Oct. 16 and will share an update with the board on Oct. 20. The board will make the final decision.

What the district says

In a written statement provided on behalf of Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams, MPS said the goal of transformation is to place more students in schools with “robust, consistent and stable academic and social/emotional supports.” The district said schools proposed to close or merge have enrollment so small that they may lack adequate staffing, or are being funded beyond what their students generate, which it called unsustainable.

Asked whether it had conducted a racial or socioeconomic equity impact analysis, MPS pointed to its Sept. 15 board presentation, which projects each option’s impact by high school pathway and breaks it down by race, socioeconomic status and whether students receive English learner or special education services. The response did not indicate plans for a separate equity analysis.

Asked how many buildings under consideration serve majority Black, Native American or immigrant students, MPS did not provide a count, instead sharing its 2025-2026 student race and ethnicity report. The district noted it does not track student immigration status.

On the history of closures concentrated on the North Side in 2007 and 2010, MPS said all three options affect schools citywide and that it remains committed to keeping schools in every part of Minneapolis. The district said some North Side schools are not projected to meet minimum enrollment requirements and would receive targeted financial support. It also pointed to planned North Side investment, including STEAM magnet programming at North High School and reestablishing Franklin Middle School as a community middle school alongside its existing STEAM magnet.

Union calls for a pause

The Minneapolis Federation of Educators Local 59 rejected all three options in a statement issued the night of the presentation, calling them “three different worst-case scenarios” with strong echoes of the district’s Comprehensive District Design.

“Let us be clear, the proposed plans are an unacceptable path forward for our district,” the union’s officers wrote.

The union argued that closures have “a proven history of harm to historically disenfranchised communities,” citing Chicago, Philadelphia and Baltimore. It said closures do not produce meaningful savings, since property sales are a one-time gain and displaced students bring added transportation costs, and that shrinking the district’s footprint makes it harder to attract and keep students and educators.

Instead, MFE called for a longer-term plan built around enrollment growth, staff retention, closing resource gaps between schools and cutting spending on outside contracts and technology subscriptions. The union also criticized the engagement timeline, noting it includes fewer days of community meetings than there are schools proposed to close, and called on the board to pause action until meaningful engagement can occur.

‘How we do it matters’

El-Amin took a different view of whether change is needed. She said all three options would bring significant change to North Minneapolis, where Franklin would feed into North High, Anwatin students would be reassigned and elementary boundaries would shift. But she said the district has to confront whether its current structure is sustainable.

“My initial position is that transformation may be necessary, but how we do it matters,” El-Amin said. “North Minneapolis families need to see clearly what their children gain, how transitions will be supported, and how their feedback can meaningfully shape the final decision.”

She stopped short of calling the proposals a repeat of past closure rounds, noting MPS says as many as 14% of students citywide could see a school or boundary change. But she said Northside families should pay close attention.

“We should be asking: How many Northside students are being displaced? How many families must travel farther? What programs are leaving, and what new resources are coming in?” she said.

El-Amin wants a more explicit racial-equity analysis before the board votes, one showing which students are asked to move by race, income, special education status and English learner status, along with changes in travel times and the cumulative impact on communities that lived through earlier closures.

“Equity cannot just be something we say guided the process,” she said. “Families should be able to see it in the data and in the final outcome.”

A question of trust

El-Amin said families are asking whether their children will change schools, how transportation will work and whether programs will hold, and that many carry a deep trust gap.

“The message I am hearing is not simply ‘don’t change anything,'” she said. “It is: if we are asking families to go through another major change, show us how our children will be better served because of it.”

MPS said it is reaching families through email and text, tabling at events and holding staff meetings at affected sites, with materials in Hmong, Somali and Spanish. El-Amin credited the district for providing interpretation and childcare but said outreach must reach families who aren’t on district email lists, have limited internet access or are grandparents raising children, including through phone calls, faith communities and, if needed, home visits.

“I would like us to aim for 98% parent and caregiver response,” she said.

How to weigh in

Families can submit feedback through Oct. 16 at mpschools.org/transformation. Community meetings with interpretation and childcare run through Oct. 9 at high schools across the city, including North High on Oct. 7. El-Amin encouraged families to contact their district board members and all three at-large members.

“Do not assume your voice will not matter,” she said.

Jasmine McBride welcomes reader responses at jmcbride@spokesman-recorder.com.