How we got here

The board voted 6-1 to close six schools as enrollment continued to decline citywide.

Tuttle Community School closed. The building later housed Heritage STEM Academy from 2007 until 2021-22, before sitting vacant.

As enrollment began recovering from its mid-2000s low, MPS announced plans to reopen the Webster building as an early childhood center, at a projected cost of about $18 million.

MPS reopened Folwell as citywide enrollment recovered. [Likely: this date and the Howe date below share a single source citation, not independent per-event reporting.]

MPS reopened Howe as part of the same enrollment-driven reopening wave. [Likely: shares its sourcing with the Folwell reopening above.]

MPS lost about 800 students between fall 2018 and fall 2019 — about 80% of them students of color — a year before the board voted on any redesign.

The teachers union opposed the district's draft Comprehensive District Design (CDD) as MPS faced a deficit nearing $20 million for 2020-21.

The final CDD proposal cut magnet programs from 14 to 11 and moved roughly 15% of K-8 students. District leaders projected 400 students would leave in each of the first two years.

The board voted 6-3 to adopt the CDD, redrawing boundaries for about 14% of the district's roughly 35,000 students. Felder, Walser and Jourdain voted no.

MPS opened the year in distance learning under new CDD boundaries. K-12 enrollment fell 4.7-5.9% that fall, before the redesign had even taken effect.

The redesign reduced K-8 schools from eight sites to two, Sullivan and Jefferson, as the district shifted toward separate middle schools.

Windom's Spanish immersion program, which had drawn more than 40 students from other districts, was disbanded under the redesign.

Magnet programs were centralized in schools near the city center, and magnet transportation funding was cut from about $4.6 million to $1.0 million a year.

New boundaries and consolidated magnet programs took effect. The Oct. 1 count showed enrollment down about 8%, roughly double the district's own forecast and well above St. Paul (about 4%) or the state (under 1%).

MPS received a $234 million ESSER allocation, with more than $108 million going to close existing deficits. The aid pushed a projected insolvency date from FY2024 to FY2027.

A two-to-three week teacher strike ended with a contract costing about $53.5 million in year one and $27 million in year two, funded partly with ESSER dollars.

Graff announced he would not continue as superintendent. The board unanimously named Rochelle Cox interim superintendent, effective July 1.

The FY23 budget gap was reported at about $86 million, covered with federal aid, reserves and $37 million in cuts. K-12 enrollment fell another 3.7%.

The board received what became its final public progress update on the CDD, reporting transportation savings 'less than projected.' No further public report on the redesign has followed.

The district's budget director told the board enrollment was down 15% since 2019-20, MPS's share of resident students had fallen from 63% to 58%, and 5,051 Minneapolis children were enrolled in private school.

The board voted 8-1 to hire Lisa Sayles-Adams as superintendent.

The board adopted Resolution 2023-0072, starting the process that led to today's closure proposal.

Lisa Sayles-Adams began as superintendent. The FY25 budget gap was first reported at about $90 million.

As the FY25 gap grew to about $110 million, staff estimated that closing 22 schools would save roughly $23 million a year district-wide.

The general fund balance at the end of FY24 was $91 million, well below the $142 million the district had projected. A new forecast put the FY26 deficit at $84 million.

Minneapolis voters approved a technology levy, 66.35% yes, adding about $38.1 million a year in capital revenue.

The district reported a $75 million FY26 budget gap, drawing $14.5 million from reserves and cutting up to 102 special education assistant positions.

The board passed Resolution 2025-0045, 7-1. Emerick cast the only no vote; Skjefte was absent. An Emerick motion to define the district's 'sweet spot' as 70-89% building capacity failed 2-6.

A draft five-year projection showed the deficit growing every year through FY31 — before final labor costs were even added in.

MPS placed its senior finance officer and two other finance staff on leave after the district's audit was delivered late to the state.

The projected FY27 deficit grew to roughly $50 million, with drivers cited as benefit costs, an estimated $43 million in special education underfunding, enrollment loss, and a state formula shortfall.

MPS lost nearly 500 students between October 2025 and March 2026, a period that coincided with ICE's 'Operation Metro Surge' in the Twin Cities.

A Star Tribune review found six MPS buildings closed by earlier decisions — including Tuttle, closed in 2007 — still unsold and costing the district an estimated $50,000-$80,000 a year each to maintain.

MPS recovered about $21 million in special education funding, bringing the reported FY27 deficit down to about $39.7 million from earlier estimates near $50 million.

The board passed Resolution 2026-0050, directing staff to present three options by the end of September. The FY27 deficit stood at $39.7 million, and the district's rainy-day fund — $54.5 million — fell below its own 8% policy target.

A $4.1 million special education reporting error became public, along with $5.3 million in tax penalties. The state found at least $25 million in underreported special education expenses.

Administration presented three options affecting 14-16 buildings and an estimated 12-14% of students. No savings estimate was given for any option; Deputy Superintendent Ty Thompson said closures are not 'a huge cost savings.'

The district's own building-capacity map rates Kenny, Lake Harriet Lower, Hmong International Academy, Anwatin, Bethune, Field and Heritage as large enough for the MPS student experience. All seven are proposed to close in every option.

In all three options, the Lake Harriet Lower campus would close. Lake Harriet Upper would become a K-5 school and absorb its students — the school community continues, but the Lower building does not.

In all three options, the Lake Nokomis Wenonah campus would close. Keewaydin would become a K-5 school and absorb its students.

Hale and Field would combine into one K-5 building at Hale — immediately under Option 1, and after new construction under Option 2.

The FAIR, Heritage, Longfellow and Wellstone high school programs would end under the proposal, with students offered another school.