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Minneapolis Public Schools will not close any schools
The Minneapolis Public Schools School Board has passed a resolution to not close any schools in the 2027-2028 school year. FOX 9's Maury Glover has more.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) is pulling back its school closure plan after strong pushback from families and city leaders.
School closure plan is paused
What we know:
The issue has been emotional for parents and school board members. The district said the proposals were meant to address dwindling enrollment and improve the student experience.
Critics argued the changes would destabilize the district and send more parents to other districts. The opposition came not only from families, but also from city leaders.
Timeline:
"Based on what we've heard so clearly so overwhelmingly and from so many people even with a few days left in the listening period, I must recommend now that the school board does not move forward with any school closures or mergers at this time," said Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Sharon Sayles-Adams.
At Tuesday night's school board meeting, Sayles-Adams changed her mind about her plan to transform Minneapolis Public Schools. After back and forth, the board passed a resolution to not close any schools for the 2027–2028 school year.
What they're saying:
"We want this city to heal. Let's just take a breath, OK?" said school board member Collin Beachy.
"This was a blindside move. Even though I'm grateful because my fight was not to have any school closures during 27/28, my fight was to make sure dollars invested in our northside schools remain in our northside schools," said school board member Sharon El-Amin.
"This city and community went through a lot this year, and we need stability," said school board member Abdul Abdi.
"Showing good leadership means admitting this was a mess. I think she did a good job coming in up front and saying hey this isn't the way forward so I recommend that we stop. So I was really grateful for that," said parent Jamia Pettinger.
"I think we are all surprised that they heard our feedback. We've done an incredible amount of work behind the scenes as parents and community members to put together data upon data so the fact they are hearing us is very encouraging," said parent Sammi Mankovich.
The Source: FOX 9's Maury Glover attended a Minneapolis School Board meeting.