| Minneapolis Public Schools | |
|---|---|
| Type and location | |
| Type | Public |
| Grades | K-12 |
| Established | 1878[1] |
| Region | Minnesota |
| Country | USA |
| Location | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| District Info | |
| Superintendent | Bernadeia Johnson |
| Budget | $654,453,751 |
| Students and staff | |
| Teachers | 2375[2] |
| Staff | 3122 |
| Athletic Conference | Minneapolis City Conference |
| Other information | |
| Information | Minneapolis Public Schools 2010-2011 Fact Sheet |
| Website | http://www.mpls.k12.mn.us |
Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) or Special School District Number 1 is a school district that covers all of the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Minneapolis Public Schools enroll 36,370 students in public primary and secondary schools. The district administers about one hundred public schools including forty-five elementary schools, seven middle schools, seven high schools, eight special education schools, eight alternative schools, nineteen contract alternative schools and five charter schools. With authority granted by the state legislature, the school board makes policy, selects the superintendent, and oversees the district's budget, curriculum, personnel, and facilities. Students speak ninety different languages at home and most school communications are printed in English, Hmong, Spanish, and Somali.[3]
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In the past decade enrollment in Minneapolis Public Schools has decreased significantly. In the 2001-2001 school year the district's enrollment was 46,256 students.[4] In the 2002-2003 school year Minneapolis Public School's 46,037 students were enough to be the 98th largest school district in the United States in terms of enrollment.[5] In the following school year (2003–2004) alone, the district's enrollment had decreased 5% to just over 43,000 students. At that time the district was predicted to lose 10,000 more students over the next five years if the then current trend continued.[6] Some of the decline has been from the result of a smaller school-age population.[6]
In the 2007-2008 school year, 10,000 eligible school children in Minneapolis choose to attend other schools such as, in suburban school districts, at private schools or at charter schools.[7] The number of students enrolled in Minneapolis Public Schools is expected to drop under 30,000 students from 2007-2011.[8] As a result of "a severe learning gap, continued enrollment decreases and financial shortfalls"[9] the district has at times proposed closing a number of schools, the majority in North Minneapolis. The district has space for 50,000 students.[8]
A large portion of students that would normally attend schools in Minneapolis instead attend schools in the western suburbs. In 2000 Minneapolis branch of the NAACP sued alleging that students were being denied an adequate education. As a result a program called "The Choice is Yours" was created that gave low-income students support in attending suburban schools.[10] Around 2,000 students, the majority being from north Minneapolis, do so, attending other school districts in the West Metro Education Program. Several studies have revealed that students who remain in Minneapolis Public Schools have better test scores than those that are bused to schools in the suburbs.[11]
The 2010 graduation rates for the seven traditional high schools ranged from 74% to 98%. For alternative programs the graduation rate was about 45%.[12]
For 2005, the America's Promise "Cities in Crisis" report calculated Minneapolis' four-year graduation rate at 45.3 percent, as compared to the 50-city average of 52.8.[13] MPS disputes the findings, claiming that the study was inaccurate in the method it used to calculate graduation rates.[14] The Minneapolis school system calculated its own graduation rate for that same time period as being at 52.8 percent. [15]
Partly in a response to an assessment performed by a consulting company (McKinsey & Co.) and a reduction in future budgets, the Minneapolis Schools embarked on a program to reorganize the community & magnet school organization. The school administration's recommendation was posted on April 27, 2009 (April 28 Meeting Agenda).
The Minneapolis Board of Education at its September 22 meeting voted to amend and approve the recommendation for Changing School Options, a comprehensive plan to create financial sustainability for the Minneapolis Public Schools. The final vote was unanimous in favor of the recommendation.
Changing School Options creates three regional zones for transportation. With the exception of a few citywide options, students will attend an elementary, middle and high school in their zone. This three zone transportation model reduces transportation costs, retains choice for families since each zone offers at least three magnet options in addition to a community school and allows students to attend schools closer to home.
Each zone will offer K-8 students access to the following magnet programs: International Baccalaureate (IB); Teaching philosophy: Open or Montessori; Spanish Dual Immersion; Curricular: Arts and Science. Each zone will offer 9-12 students access to comprehensive high school programming.
Families with children enrolled in a citywide special education or English Language Learner program will continue to receive transportation across zones. Based on the state’s open enrollment law, families still have the option to enroll at any school in the city provided there is space available and they provide their own transportation. Students currently attending magnet, middle or high schools outside of their home attendance area or zone will have the option of grandfathering, or being guaranteed a seat in their current school, but must provide their own transportation. Students attending a community school who live outside of their school’s attendance area will be able to continue to attend if space is available, but must provide transportation.
The plan closes six buildings – four schools and two administrative centers that also house alternative programs – at the end of the 2009-10 school year: 1250 West Broadway; Longfellow; Folwell; the Lehmann Center; Emerson, which would move to the Anwatin/Bryn Mawr site; and the Brown Building, which housed Anishinabe Academy. Anishinabe has already moved to Sullivan for this school year. The Anwatin Middle School program will be phased out over the next two years; students who are in sixth and seventh grade at Anwatin may continue at the school through their eighth grade year.
The K-5 portion of Emerson Spanish Dual Immersion School will move intact to the Bryn Mawr/Anwatin site, with existing transportation services for those outside of the walk zone. A new combined Dual Spanish Immersion-International Baccalaureate middle school program will be created at the Bryn Mawr/Anwatin site to serve Emerson, Windom and community sixth through eighth graders from the Bryn Mawr and Bethune attendance areas. This program would also serve students remaining in the Anwatin program through their eighth grade year.
The number of magnet schools will be reduced from 16 to 12 in order to concentrate resources on fewer magnets to strengthen their programs. Schools that are no longer magnets may choose to retain their themes. Current magnet schools that will no longer have magnet status are Cityview and Kenwood Performing Arts, Northrop Environmental and Pillsbury Math, Science and Technology. The Park View Montessori program will close. Armatage Community and Montessori School will become a full Montessori magnet school, with the community school program closing at the end of the 2009-10 school year. Bancroft Community School will become an International Baccalaureate magnet school.
Implementation of CSO for the 2010-2011 school year was modified from the plan as stated here. Among the changes: Anwatin Middle School remains open and now offers an International Baccalaureate program to all students, with about 25% of students also participating in a Spanish Dual Immersion program (established path from the K-5 Spanish Dual Immersion feeder programs at Emerson and Windom). Emerson remains at their unique location near downtown Minneapolis and beautiful Loring Park, and has expanded to offer Hi-5 classes.
The Minneapolis Board of Education describes itself as a "a policy-making body responsible for selecting the superintendent and overseeing the district's budget, curriculum, personnel and facilities." See Board of education for further details on the functions of a school board. The Minneapolis Board of Education has been granted the power to carry out such duties by the State of Minnesota and the Minnesota Legislature.[16]
Miscellaneous records such as minutes, reports, ledgers and other items relating to the Minneapolis Public School district are available for research use. Includes treasurer's ledgers and receipt book; summer school pupil record; teacher's term reports and list; annual reports of the secretary and committee on textbooks and course instruction; statistics on citywide and individual school failures and promotions and the cost of teaching high school; a real estate acquisition record; and a chart depicting the history of past and present school buildings and sites. Also includes minutes of city-wide principals' and assistant principals' meetings, and subject files. Slides, sound cassettes and script materials from Wilder Elementary depicting Laura Ingalls Wilder are also part of the collection.[18]
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