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Minneapolis school board weighs school closures plan
Minneapolis Public Schools is considering three transformation plans that could reduce the district from 59 schools to as few as 44 as it faces declining enrollment and a $40 million budget shortfall.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minneapolis School Board heard three school transformation proposals on Tuesday that could close up to 16 schools. Here's a look at the plans.
The proposals come as the district faces a $40 million budget shortfall and declining school enrollment and dozens of underutilized buildings.
Minneapolis Public Schools transformation plans
What we know:
Minneapolis has too many public schools for the number of students enrolled.
That reality has the state's third-largest district looking to eliminate between 15 and 16 school buildings.
District leaders have been given a big assignment: Choose the best option that will balance the budget and improve efficiencies while minimizing the impact on students.
Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams presented the school board with three so-called "transformation plans" Tuesday night, with the goal of optimizing the district's footprint.
Which schools could close?
By the numbers:
Minneapolis Public Schools currently operates 59 schools, but because of declining enrollment, many facilities are being underutilized.
Depending on which option the school board chooses, the number of schools would be reduced from 59 to as few as 44.
Each option would save the district between $635,000 and $705,000 a year.
Dig deeper:
During the meeting, Board Member Greta Callahan outlined 17 sites facing potential closures depending on the plan:
- Anwatin Middle School
- Bethune Arts Elementary
- Cityview Elementary
- FAIR School for Art
- Field Elementary
- Heritage Academy
- Hmong International Academy (HIA)
- Hiawatha Elementary
- Howe Elementary
- Kenny Elementary
- Lake Harriet Lower Elementary
- Longfellow Alternative High
- Loring Elementary
- Pratt Elementary
- Webster Elementary
- Wellstone International High
- Wenonah Elementary
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MPS details potentially closing schools
Families within the Minneapolis Public Schools are getting a first look at changes happening within the district, including closing several schools. FOX 9’s Soyoung Kim has the latest.
Impacts of closures?
What they're saying:
Callahan made it clear she was listing the closures based off inference, because the district had not provided a clear list of schools that could close. Callahan criticized leaders for not being more forthcoming about the impacts these plans could have.
"Closing schools will create more upheaval, uncertainty, and trauma in the very nature of the way this plan was presented to us, as a board, is not reassuring," she said. "We got a slide deck where there is impacted schools which are not even stated up front. We really had to zoom in and get our strong glasses out on a map."
Callahan also wondered about the costs of the closures that aren't considered in the proposals.
"There's a lot of arrows pointing forward and a lot of checkmarks and bullet points," she said. "But here's what it doesn't have. A robust recruitment and retention plan. A list of how many staff will be cut. There's not a description of how much money it'll take to maintain empty school buildings or a concrete plan for what will happen to the shuttered buildings. There's no analysis of how much money the district expects to save. There's a description of how much it will take to retrofit existing buildings to take in students from closed schools. There is not a projection of how many families will leave the district if this plan takes effect."
The other side:
During Tuesday's meeting, district officials said not all 15 to 16 schools might fully close. The district described the affected buildings as "unprogrammed," meaning they would no longer house K-12 school programming.
Officials said some could eventually be used for other purposes, like early childhood education, community education or other district programs.
What's next:
The district has planned seven public meetings on the transformation plan for coming weeks. All meetings run 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
- Camden High School: Sept. 30, 2026
- Washburn High School: Oct. 1, 2026
- Edison High School: Oct. 2, 2026
- South High School: Oct. 6, 2026
- North High School: Oct. 7, 2026
- Southwest High School: Oct. 8, 2026
- Roosevelt High School: Oct. 9, 2026
A vote on the plans is expected this fall and changes could be implemented by the 2027-28 school year.
The Source: This story uses information from Minneapolis Public Schools and the school board meeting.