On April 12 the Minneapolis Board of Education, for the third time in 27 years, decided to close Northside schools. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Through the late 1970s culminating in 1982, the district closed a number of Northside schools; Hawthorne, McKinley, Bremer, Jordan, Willard, Hamilton, Jenny Lind, Cleveland, Penn, Shingle Creek and Willard all come to mind. Of course within a few years, the ones that weren’t sold or torn down – Hamilton, Willard and Shingle Creek – were reopened because of over crowded classrooms in the schools that had remained open. Eventually all of the torn down buildings except Penn would be rebuilt. Cityview replaced McKinley, Nellie Stone Johnson replaced Hawthorne, Jordan Park replaced Jordan Jr. High, Lucy Laney at Cleveland Park replaced Cleveland and the new Jenny Lind replaced the old Jenny Lind. 2005 saw the closing of Hamilton, Willard and Franklin Middle schools. Although Shingle Creek and North Star schools were also slated to close then, the school board decided to hold off on their closings.
This year brings the closing of not only Shingle Creek and North Star schools but also Lincoln, W. Harry Davis and Jordan Park schools, as well as the moving of the Afro Centric Academy and the Hmong International Academy in North Minneapolis and the closing of Tuttle School in Southeast. These closings are part of what the district calls the “North Side Initiative” which is phase one of “Destination Excellence.” The district hopes that by consolidating resources in less school buildings, it will be able to better serve our students and close the widening achievement gap between white students and students of color.
The initiative and the closings have not come without controversy. Many North Minneapolis residents have been asking questions about the closings and the aftermath. Some have questioned why Northside schools were targeted when there are Southside schools with smaller enrollments of students. The district said it decided to focus on Northside schools because it is where the largest decline in enrollment has been and where the achievement gap is the greatest. The district has also said that while the North Side Initiative is the first phase of their Destination Excellence plan, that next year they will look at other parts of the city as they work on long term strategic planning.
Some school board members and district administrators met with the Camden Alliance of Neighborhoods (CAN) on April 4. Lack of discipline in the schools was one topic of discussion. The district had to admit that the lack of discipline in some schools has been a reason families have chosen to leave the district. The school district plans to implement a new behavior program next fall and put more behavior support in the schools. Class size was also a concern that was brought up. Under the North Side Initiative, classrooms in grades K-3 would have a teacher to student ratio of 1 to 21. There will also be full day kindergarten and High Five early educational programs at every school. Focusing resources at the early grades builds a good foundation for students to succeed throughout their education.
While the meeting with CAN was calm and cordial, the same could not always be said for the public hearing that was held at Patrick Henry High School on April 10. Groups of parents, students, staff and community members from Jordan Park, Lincoln and Tuttle came to voice their concerns and discontent with the school closings. People spoke passionately about why their school should not be closed. Former mayor, Don Fraser, said he thought the district was rushing things and should wait a year and look at other possibilities. The school board listened while a large number of people, many of them very angry, had their say. The meeting, which was scheduled to run from 6-8 p.m., didn’t end till almost 9:30. At the end of the speakers, board member T. Williams spoke about the amount of distrust the gathered crowd had for the school district and how the district needed to work to regain that trust.
The school board meeting two days later where the final decision was made was no less contentious. In the end, the board voted (6-1) to close Shingle Creek, North Star, Lincoln, Jordan Park, W. Harry Davis and Tuttle schools.
A week after the Minneapolis Public Schools decided to close five North Side schools, the other shoe dropped. The school district notified the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Local 59 that Nellie Stone Johnson and Lucy Laney at Cleveland Park schools would be “fresh started.” This means that the teachers, educational assistants and other staff will be excessed (removed) and the administration will get to “interview and select” the new staff. The school board had said they want everything to be transparent and they want to get community input about the North Side Initiative. Why wasn’t the restructuring of these schools put forth as part of the North Side Initiative in the first place and why were the citizens of our community not told about this? Why do the schools need to be restructured? Is this a ploy to circumvent the union contracts?
Now that the decision has been made, we in the community need to make sure we hold the Minneapolis Board of Education and the Superintendent accountable to deliver on the promises of the North Side Initiative.
