Updates

North Side board member asks MPS to show this round will be different

District 2 board member Sharon El-Amin said communities hit hardest by the 2007 and 2010 closures need to see real investment and stability this time. MPS said all three options affect schools citywide.

Sharon El-Amin, who represents North Minneapolis on the school board, said the district must show that the communities hit hardest by the 2007 and 2010 closures will come out ahead this time, not just see disruption spread across the city.

MPS responded that all three options affect schools citywide and that it remains committed to keeping schools in every part of Minneapolis.

MPS says closures are not about saving money, and that the plan only helps if enrollment rises

At a Sept 25 press conference, Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams said the district expects to spend about the same total amount under the plan, just spent differently. District finance staff said the proposals may only lessen future budget gaps, and only if enrollment goes up.

At a press conference on Friday, Sept 25, Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams said the consolidation is not about saving money. She said MPS expects to spend about the same total amount it would if nothing changed, with the money directed toward staff and students and less toward overhead.

District finance staff said the shift would allow more equitable programming across the district, such as music in elementary schools that do not have it today, and that the district hopes to expand pre-kindergarten to attract students and raise enrollment.

Ryan Strack, the district's senior executive officer, said staff recently closed a roughly $40 million budget deficit for 2026 without drawing on the general fund, and that only increased state funding will solve the structural budget problem. FOX 9 reported that the consolidation proposals may make budget gaps less severe, and only if the changes lead to higher enrollment.

FOX 9 also reported that MPS has capacity for about 42,000 students and about 29,000 are enrolled this year, per the district's latest projections. Officials acknowledged at the press conference that enrollment is hard to predict. The district has updated its school transformation page with enrollment and financial projections.

The board is still expected to vote this fall.

MPS publishes the minimum enrollment it says each school needs, and defines "merger"

In its first round of answers to community questions, MPS posted the minimum enrollment for an "optimally sized" school. For a community elementary it is 360 students where at least 70% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, and 432 where fewer than 70% are.

On Sept 25, MPS posted its first set of follow-up answers to questions it says came up repeatedly after the Sept 15 presentation. The post has sections on definitions, class sizes, enrollment data, financial information and the timeline.

The district defines an optimally sized school as one with enough students to meet a minimum enrollment threshold to fund the academic and social-emotional experience described in the board's transformation resolution. The thresholds were discussed with the school board in January 2026, and they depend on the share of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals (FRL):

Community elementary: 360 students at or above 70% FRL, 432 below 70% FRL. Magnet elementary: 424 at or above 70%, 485 below 70%. Magnet K-8: 1,018 at or above 70%, 1,133 below 70%. Middle school: 594 at or above 70%, 648 below 70%.

MPS also defines a merger as programming continuing in a different location. It says closing would imply the programming stops.

Three options, 14 schools, and a vote on Nov 10

MPS presented three Transformation options on Sept 15. Fourteen schools, campuses or programs close in all three; three more close in some. Public input runs through Oct 16, and the board plans to vote Nov 10.

On Sept 15, 2026, Minneapolis Public Schools presented three options to the school board in a 118-slide work session. No vote was taken and there was no public comment.

Across the three options, MPS would take 14 or 15 of its own buildings out of service. Fourteen schools, campuses or programs are on the list in all three options: Kenny, Lake Harriet Lower, Loring, Hmong International Academy, Pratt, Anwatin, Bethune, Lake Nokomis Wenonah, Hiawatha, Field, FAIR, Heritage Academy, Longfellow and Wellstone. Cityview, Webster and Howe close in some options.

Seven of the buildings that close in every option are ones the district's own map codes orange, meaning large enough for the MPS student experience.

Asked how much of the district's deficit the closures solve, Deputy Superintendent Ty Thompson said closures are "not something that's like a huge cost savings... that hasn't been the intent." The only dollar figure in the presentation is $560,000 to $705,000 a year in utility savings, against a $39.7 million shortfall.

What happens next: the district survey is open through Oct 16, pathway community meetings run Sept 30 through Oct 9, staff report initial feedback to the board on Oct 20, and the board plans to vote Nov 10, one week after the Nov 3 election.