Bethune Arts
This school's building leaves service in all three options.
What happens under each option
Arts programming merges into Hall STEAM. Students who want arts can join Hall or Marcy.
Same.
Same.
Source: MPS proposed options pages, read Sept 17, 2026 [MPS], and the unprogrammed-building maps on slide 82 [presentation].
The building
Design capacity from MPS building reports, Table 2 [MPS]. Enrollment is the state's official Oct 1, 2025 count, grades K-12 [MDE]. This site also served 30 preschool or early childhood special education students on Oct 1, 2025, counted separately by the state.
Large enough for MPS student experience, approaching optimal enrollment
Slide 6 of the Sept 15, 2026 presentation [presentation].
What the district's own dashboard shows
MPS School Detail Dashboard (Tableau), publicinsights.mpls.k12.mn.us/transformation, printed Sept 2026. Capacity and enrollment use MDE and MPS building-report figures elsewhere on this page, not this dashboard -- the two sources disagree on those two fields for every school checked so far.
Bethune Arts draws from across the district rather than a single boundary, so MPS doesn't calculate a boundary-attendance split for it.
Slide 25 states the rule: "School buildings that do not have a large enough footprint for the necessary enrollment to provide the student experience are merged with school buildings that have sufficient physical capacity." Bethune Arts is coded orange, which the district defines as large enough for the MPS student experience.
Our argument In every option, at least half the closing buildings are orange. The district has never published the enrollment number that separates the colors.
Your community meeting
This school doesn't have a single assigned pathway meeting. See all meeting dates.
What the district has not answered about this school
- What would closing this school save? MPS has published net savings only by option, not for any individual school.
- How many of this school's students does MPS expect to stay in the district?
- How many students would this school need to be sustainable, and what is the plan to recruit them?
- What evidence ties the district's size minimum to student outcomes? MPS left the minimums out of the 118 slides and confirmed them on Sept 25: 432 students for a community elementary under 70% free and reduced meals, 360 at or above 70%.
Director Callahan asked about savings, retention and sustainability at the Sept 15 work session and asked for answers by the Oct 13 business meeting. What the board heard.
Who decides
All nine board members vote on Bethune Arts Nov 10. One represents this school's district; three more represent every school in the district, regardless of address.
The tag under each name is our read of their stance, based on the Sept 15, 2026 work session and Oct 14, 2025 votes on file — not their own statement of a position.
Sept 15, 2026 work session: said the presentation delivered what the board asked for, but the timeline is "definitely too short" and "we do owe it to our families to give them more than two months." Said she was not expecting school names. Asked the superintendent to reconsider the timeline; no response was recorded. Oct 14, 2025: voted against the "sweet spot" definition and for Resolution 2025-0045.
Sept 15, 2026 work session: asked seven questions, including whether the board can combine options (staff: yes), what success metrics are (no target or date given), and how much of the deficit the plan solves. Staff answered that closures are "not a huge cost savings." Thanked staff in closing. Oct 14, 2025: voted against defining the enrollment "sweet spot" as 70-89% capacity, and for Resolution 2025-0045.
Sept 15, 2026 work session: "You guys brought back exactly what we asked you to do... I think I have enough information." Asked no questions requiring answers. Suggested Afrocentric programming and raised the safety of adult Wellstone students at South. Oct 14, 2025: voted against the "sweet spot" definition and for Resolution 2025-0045.
Sept 15, 2026 work session (virtual): said staff "followed direction exquisitely" and called the plan "courageous." Asked nine questions on North Minneapolis equity, walk zones, dual language, inclusion, interventionists and libraries. Oct 14, 2025: proposed defining the "sweet spot" as 70-89% capacity (failed 2-6) and cast the only vote against Resolution 2025-0045.
These board members represent other parts of the district. The administration doesn't vote, but sets the agenda the board votes on.
Board members' emails and phones are theirs directly, from the MPS Board of Education page. Administrator contacts are their own direct lines, from MPS's staff directory.
This school's board district is confirmed. Check it yourself.
Ask them to stop the vote and wait for the newly elected board and for published goals to fix the budget.