Parent’s Analysis Says MPS Could Fund Supports Without Closing Schools
Editor Jasmine McBride reports on a virtual presentation by MPS parent Becca Meinz, who argued the district could deliver the staffing and student supports in its Transformation plan without closures at an added cost of about $20.9 million a year, roughly 2.8% of the general fund. MSR has not independently verified her calculations. The district says all three options close at least 14 schools, that about two-thirds of schools lack enrollment for full funding, and that the plan is not a cost-saving measure. A resolution from Directors Greta Callahan and Sharon El-Amin to pause the plan is before the board.
A Minneapolis Public Schools parent with a corporate finance background told a virtual audience Oct. 12 that the district could deliver the staffing and student supports in its School Transformation plan without closing any schools, at an added cost of about $20.9 million a year.
The presentation by Becca Meinz, titled “What Do the Numbers Say? Part 2,” drew more than 230 registrants, according to a news release. It came one day before the Minneapolis Board of Education was scheduled to consider a resolution by Directors Greta Callahan and Sharon El-Amin that would pause the plan.
Meinz’s figure equals about 2.8% of the district’s $737 million general fund budget. MSR has not independently verified her calculations.
“The question isn’t whether Minneapolis students deserve more support. They do,” Meinz said in a statement. “The question is why we’re being asked to close schools to provide it when the district hasn’t demonstrated that closures are necessary.”
The district’s side starts with the plan itself. Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams presented three options to the board Sept. 15. All three close 14 schools, and some close one or two more, for up to 16. They also redraw attendance boundaries and move specialized programs into existing buildings. Under the plans, changes would take effect for the 2027-28 school year, and the board is scheduled to vote on one in November.
“We are spread too thin and attempting to support a significant number of schools with insufficient enrollment,” Sayles-Adams said at the meeting, according to CBS Minnesota.
The district has said about two-thirds of its schools lack the enrollment needed to generate full funding on their own and require extra district support. KSTP reported that Sayles-Adams said the options would flip that, leaving about one-third of schools below the minimum. Minneapolis enrolls nearly 30,000 students, and the Minnesota Reformer reported the district has more than 12,000 empty desks.
District leaders have said the plan is not meant to close the $39.7 million budget gap for 2026-27, which they said the board addressed by adopting a balanced budget in June. Senior Executive Officer Ryan Strack said the plan was “never a cost-saving measure,” KSTP reported. The district’s own handout nonetheless projected small net savings under each option: about $721,000, $184,000 and $2.36 million.
MPS has said between 86% and 88% of families would see no change to their school or boundary, and the Star Tribune reported that about 14% of students would change schools under the option affecting the most. The district estimates roughly 200 students could leave Minneapolis schools as a result and has not said how many staff members could be affected.
Meinz’s presentation disputed those estimates. She said a 5% enrollment loss, about 1,500 students, would cost roughly $22.8 million a year in revenue at the district’s average of $15,191 per student, more than the staffing investment she described.
Her models, which she called illustrative and not forecasts, showed a scenario that invests in existing schools ending with a larger general fund balance than the closure scenario.
Parents also compiled a report on the district’s community meetings, held Sept. 30 to Oct. 9. It counted 97% of the comments as opposed to the closure plans or critical of the process. The most common concern, according to the report and Meinz’s release, was that closures would push families out of the district. As MSR reported last month, El-Amin, who represents North Minneapolis, said the district must show the communities hit hardest by closures in 2007 and 2010 will see real investment this time. The district has said all three options affect schools citywide and that it remains committed to keeping schools in every part of Minneapolis.
The board’s next step is the Callahan and El-Amin resolution, which would bar closing, merging, consolidating or “unprogramming” any school building for next school year. It would direct Sayles-Adams to present an alternative plan by February and ask for more community input and fuller analysis of enrollment, academic, transportation and financial effects. It also calls for restoring open enrollment for high school students, expanding prekindergarten, creating more North Side programs, including an Afrocentric pathway and dual language offerings, and reviewing central office spending.
“We need to stop the bleeding on this,” Callahan told KARE 11, saying families are threatening to leave the district. She expects the resolution to pass. It needs five of nine votes.
The Minneapolis Federation of Educators Local 59 has rejected all three options and called for a pause.