SStop the TransformationMPS transformation, explained
Elementary · Roosevelt pathway

Lake Nokomis Wenonah

This school's building leaves service in all three options.

All schools

What happens under each option

Option 1
Campus closes, school continues

The Lake Nokomis campuses combine at Keewaydin as a K-5 school.

Option 2
Campus closes, school continues

Same.

Option 3
Campus closes, school continues

Same.

Source: MPS proposed options pages, read Sept 17, 2026 [MPS], and the unprogrammed-building maps on slide 82 [presentation].

The building

Building use
0 of ~298 seats
0%
under the efficient band
0%70%90%120%
Shaded band = MPS's "efficient" range (70–90% of design capacity).

Design capacity from MPS building reports, Table 2 [MPS]. Enrollment is the state's official Oct 1, 2025 count, grades K-12 [MDE].

Since the count the district is using, this school has lost 6 students.

The Sept 15, 2026 presentation uses Oct 2024 enrollment for every school. The state's Oct 1, 2025 count for Lake Nokomis Wenonah is 146, against 152 a year earlier.

On the district's own map
red

Too small for MPS student experience

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.

Enrollment, 2019 to 2025
283 → 152
Down 131 over six years, on this dashboard's own count.
FY25 school budget
$1,800,000
27 total staff
FY25 utilities cost
$82,000
Electric, gas, and water combined

Who attends from the boundary

42.6%Enroll here
7.6%Magnet/alt seat
49.8%Don't attend MPS
49.8% of children in Lake Nokomis Wenonah's own attendance boundary don't attend MPS at all.

We don't know the exact number of children that percentage represents, so this doesn't set a ceiling on the slider below -- it's context for how much room there plausibly is to recapture, not a hard limit.

0100 students
...that's $132,961 in additional FY27 school-based funding, at this school's own per-pupil rate of $13,296.

Per-pupil rate: this school's FY27 total school-based budget divided by its own FY27 projected enrollment. It's the district's core classroom funding only -- it excludes centrally budgeted costs like transportation and district administration, so it understates, not overstates, what each student is actually worth to the district.

Your community meeting

Oct 9, 2026 · 6:00 - 7:30 PM · Community meeting
Roosevelt pathway community meeting
Roosevelt High School
Interpreters (Spanish, Hmong, Somali) and childcare available.

Sourced from the MPS School Transformation page [MPS].

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 Lake Nokomis Wenonah 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.

This school's district · Clerk
Lori Norvell
Leaning yes
District 5 (South)

Sept 15, 2026 work session: thanked staff, said the board has discussed this for three years and the process is not rushed. Asked for each school's enrollment against the "optimal size" number and how far each is from it; no one answered. Asked whether implementation would be phased; no answer. Oct 14, 2025: voted against the "sweet spot" definition and for Resolution 2025-0045.

At-large · Chair
Collin Beachy
Undecided

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.

At-large · Vice Chair
Kim Ellison
Supports closures

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.

At-large
Joyner Emerick
Supports closures

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.

Email
The district does not provide a correct phone number for this director at this time.
Other district leaders

These board members represent other parts of the district. The administration doesn't vote, but sets the agenda the board votes on.

Abdul Abdi
District 1 (Northeast and Southeast) · Treasurer
Opposed
Sharon El-Amin
District 2 (North)
Leaning yes, timeline concerns
Lucie Skjefte
District 3 (South)
Unknown
Adriana Cerrillo
District 4 (South-central)
Undecided
Greta Callahan
District 6 (Southwest)
Opposed
Hear her full comments
Dr. Shawn Harris-Berry
Associate Superintendent · This school's Associate Superintendent
Ty Thompson
Deputy Superintendent · Deputy Superintendent
Dr. Lisa Sayles-Adams
Superintendent · Superintendent

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.

The board votes Nov 10.

Ask them to stop the vote and wait for the newly elected board and for published goals to fix the budget.

Take action
Stop the Transformation

An independent community site about Minneapolis Public Schools' "School Transformation" process and the schools it would close. Not affiliated with Minneapolis Public Schools, any school, or any parent foundation.

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Facts link to their source. Our argument is labeled as argument. Where sources disagree, we show the range. Spot an error? Tell us and we will correct it publicly.