What the board heard, and what the district said
We listened to all 3 hours and 18 minutes and compared it against the 118 slides. The district's own deputy superintendent told the board closures are not a big cost savings. Nobody could say what size makes a school "optimal." And no school-by-school savings figure was given.
The short version
Kenny, Lake Harriet Lower, Hmong International Academy, Anwatin, Bethune, Field and Heritage Academy are colored orange, "large enough for MPS student experience," on slide 6. All seven close in all three options. The facilities presenter walked through each option school by school 1:13 1:14 1:15. Nothing a board member said changes that.
Online survey Sept 16 to Oct 16, community meetings Sept 30 to Oct 10 (per slide 107; the presenter said Oct 9), feedback report at the Oct 20 work session (6:00 PM), planned vote at the Nov 10 business meeting (5:30 PM). Staff meetings at the schools on the list started at 8:15 a.m. on Sept 16 2:41.
Asked how much of the deficit the plan solves, Deputy Superintendent Thompson said closures are "not something that's like a huge cost savings... that hasn't been the intent" 3:13. Slide 9, which he presented at 0:20, says concentrating resources lowers overhead. Parents should hold the district to one story.
Director Norvell asked for each school's enrollment against the "optimal size" number 2:57. No one answered. The deck never prints the threshold. The board is being asked to close 15 or 16 buildings against a number it has not seen.
Director Callahan asked what closing each school would save. No dollar figure was given for any school, any option, or the plan as a whole. The only savings figure in the 118 slides is utilities on appendix slide 112: $560,000 to $705,000 a year, against a $39.7 million shortfall.
In their words
Verbatim from the recording. Tap a time to open the district's video of the Sept 15 work session at that moment.
"What we know about school consolidations and closings across our nation is that it's not something that's like a huge cost savings... that hasn't been the intent."
Slide 9, presented by the same person at 0:20, says concentrating resources lowers overhead and that expenses grow "in part due to our current structure."
"We will guarantee the MPS student experience across all years, both now and with future growth, at all MPS schools."
Every presenter defined an optimally sized school as one with enough enrollment to fund that experience. Only 78%, 71% or 82% of students would attend one.
"Most students will not experience school building change. Most students will not. I'll repeat myself."
True district-wide. False for the roughly 600 Southwest elementary students at Kenny and Lake Harriet Lower.
"It felt inappropriate and disrespectful to have even an exploratory conversation without reaching out to the staff."
Confirming that principals at listed schools were called before the meeting. Staff meetings at those schools began at 8:15 a.m. on Sept 16.
"The 12 to 14 percent of students who we project to be impacted is going to be the baseline of where our engagement will happen."
The district expects to hear mostly from the schools on the list, and is planning accordingly.
"We actually think that that's okay, and that's exactly the type of feedback that we want to hear."
On whether the board can combine pieces of different options. The opening for a fourth option that keeps Kenny.
"I find these options offensive... three options that close more than a dozen schools is not what we ask for."
The only board member to reject the options outright, and the only one to say "Kenny" all night.
What changed on Sept 15
The stated reason for closing several buildings is now missing. The deck's rule (slide 25, read aloud at 0:35) merges buildings that are "not large enough." Seven buildings that close in all three options are coded large enough on the district's own map. The presenter said a building "can't be shown as a green or orange dot on this slide unless it plausibly [can] have inclusive special education, early learning opportunities, and support student enrollment necessary to sustain the MPS experience" (0:18). And the deputy superintendent said the closures are not about savings. That leaves no stated reason.
The door to a different option is open. The district said the board can combine pieces of options by part of the city (1:50) and that it wants to hear "things that they might want to tell us that maybe we hadn't thought of or could be looked at differently" (2:27). Families can ask for exactly that in the survey, at their pathway's community meeting and at the Oct 13 public comment: stop the Nov 10 vote, and wait for the newly elected board and for published goals to fix the budget.
The clock is real. The district's choice window opens in mid-November, which is why the vote is Nov 10 (2:42). Three board members said the timeline is too short. The district said it is "flexible and open to change." Asking for more time is a live request.
Utility savings appear on appendix slide 112. That slide was not presented and no board member asked about it. Custodial staffing is assumed unchanged.
Shortfall: Star Tribune, June 2026. Utility savings: slide 112, "preliminary, ±10%." Holding cost: $50,000 to $80,000 per vacant elementary per year (MPS operations chief to the Star Tribune, May 2026) times 16 buildings; our arithmetic. [Slide 112]
What the district said that is not on the slides
All of this came out only in the question period.
- 1.Options can be mixed.
Chair Beachy asked whether the board must pick one option whole. Thompson: "we actually think that that's okay, and that's exactly the type of feedback that we want to hear" 1:50. By itself this changes little, because all three options close the same buildings. What matters more is the district's other statement: it wants feedback on "things that they might want to tell us that maybe we hadn't thought of or could be looked at differently" 2:27.
- 2.Closures are not expected to save much money.
Thompson framed the purpose as redirecting existing resources so every school gets the "MPS student experience," funded by per-pupil revenue that follows students to bigger schools 3:13. No dollar figure was given for any school, any option, or the plan as a whole.
- 4.There is no staffing plan and no layoff answer.
Senior Officer Miller: staffing changes go through contractual transfer and reassignment, staff generally "follow their students," seniority lists merge, and "no staffing decision is final until that budget is ultimately approved by the board in June" 2:11.
- 6.A public hearing is required by law before any school closes.
Belcher mentioned it in passing 1:43. It is not on the slide 107 timeline and no date was given.
- 7.Enrollment opens in mid-November, which sets the Nov 10 vote.
Belcher 2:42. The district's May memo said decisions after Nov 10 push changes to 2028-29.
- 8.The kindergarten gap has an explanation, but not a resolution.
Dr. McMurray: MPS enrolls 44% of kindergartners predicted from birth records but 60% of those the state counts as residents, because "many resident kindergarten-aged students move out of Minneapolis before becoming school-aged" 1:34. The district did not say which number drives its targets or its building count.
- 9.Closed buildings: internal reuse within six months, anything else takes years.
The facilities presenter said moving MPS programs like early childhood into closed buildings could be decided "within the six months following board direction," while decisions with external impact "would be years in the making" 1:22. Slide 113 says Anishinabe Academy may take one of them.
Where what was said does not match what was shown
What the board asked for and did not get
Director Callahan asked for answers by the next business meeting, Oct 13. We will mark each item when the district answers it, or note that it did not.
Not answered. The only figure anywhere is $560,000 to $705,000 a year in utility savings, in an appendix slide that was never presented.
Not answered. The impact tables assume every student follows the new boundary; presenters said the option columns make no assumptions about family choice (0:41, 1:00). So the 100% figures for Southwest count every Kenny family as enrolling at Armatage or Windom.
Not answered. This is the number Kenny families most need. Kenny is budgeted at 326 students for 2026-27 and the district has never said what "optimal" is for a K-5.
Not answered. The deck does not print the threshold anywhere.
Regular academic reporting, caregiver feedback and a future strategic plan. No target, baseline or date.
Pointed to slide 89. No timeline.
Where the board stood
Only what each member said on the record. Four members thanked staff and said the presentation delivered what the board asked for. Three said the timeline is too short. One rejected the options. One did not speak.
Read the school list aloud, including Kenny. Called the options "offensive." Asked for per-school savings, the share of displaced students expected to stay, and what it would take to keep each school open. Wants answers by Oct 13. Pointed to recovered state special-education money, the extended levy and the Nov 3 Permanent School Fund ballot amendment (about $1 million a year for MPS by our arithmetic) as reasons the district is "not standing in the ashes."
Asked what changes for students, what the "guaranteed experience" means, whether options can be mixed, how staff are protected, what success looks like, how much of the deficit this solves, and where resources show up.
Said staff "followed direction exquisitely" and called the plan "courageous." Focused on North Minneapolis equity, walk zones, dual language, inclusion, interventionists and libraries.
Said the board has discussed this for three years. Asked for each school's enrollment against the optimal-size number. Did not get an answer.
"Is one month really enough?" Asked why pre-K is not universal and whether Northeast can absorb Heritage and Sullivan students.
"Definitely too short." Was not expecting school names. Priority is academics and resources for North Side students. Asked the superintendent to rethink the timeline.
Backed Callahan's savings question. Asked for a clear engagement plan: how many meetings, how families and students will be reached.
"I think I have enough information." Suggested an Afrocentric program and raised safety of adult Wellstone students at South. No questions requiring answers.
Did not speak on the record.
Question counts are ours, from the recording. Student representatives Corvah and Webster also asked questions. Contact any member.
Every question, and what the answer entailed
The presentation ran from 0:13 to 1:45. Questions ran from 1:45 to 3:17. Filter by who asked.
Staff identified where a colleague named them: Deputy Superintendent Ty Thompson; Executive Director McCormick (Academics); Executive Director Belcher (Engagement); Dr. McMurray (Research and Evaluation); Senior Officer Miller (Human Resources). Two presenters, covering facilities and the North and Washburn pathways, are identified by role only. The transcript was machine-generated with unlabeled speakers; check the video before quoting a speaker by name.
What's next, and how to be heard
The district said it wants to hear what it missed. Stop the Nov 10 vote. Wait for the newly elected board and for published goals to fix the budget.
We recorded the full public meeting and had it transcribed, then read every line against the 118-slide deck. Quotes are verbatim from the recording; timestamps let you check them in the district's video archive. Board members were identified from the chair's introductions. Where we draw a conclusion, it is labeled as our argument. Spot an error? Tell us.