Minneapolis schools kiosks coming near you

You use electronic kiosks to get cash or an airline boarding pass. Now you'll be able to see what your Minneapolis Public Schools student is eating for lunch, top up his or her school lunch account or even enroll a student.

Five new touch-screen kiosks in four languages are being installed by Minneapolis Public Schools over the next few days under a state school choice grant. The first will debut at 5:45 p.m. Thursday at Brian Coyle Community Center before the district's "soup with the Supe" event bringing Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson together with East African community members.

Besides the kiosk at Coyle Center, 420 15th Av. S., others initially will be installed at Cub Foods, 2850 26th Av.S., and the district's New Families Center, 3345 Chicago Av.S., Student Placement Office, 2410 Girard Av. N., and headquarters at 807 NE Broadway St. Kiosks will be available during building hours at each site. Another five locations will be determined later, and the district is seeking high-traffic spots..

The idea for kiosks came from outreach to parents, according to Scott Redd, the district's executive director of family and community engagement. Parents wanted more ways to communicate with the district. So a feedback button is one of the prominent options on the kiosk. The kiosks are accessible in Somali, Spanish, Hmong and English languages.

"We want to connect with families that have left the district or who are interested in joining the district," Redd said.

Many of the kiosk features already are on the district web site, but the kiosks provide a means of accessing them for families without Internet access. For example, a family could use the kiosk to apply for free or reduced-price school meals if its income is low enough. Others, including those without students, could use the kiosk to find volunteer opportunities in schools and what's needed to qualify. Users could also subscribe to the district's electronic newsletter.

The kiosks cost about $9,900 apiece, including hardware, programming, insurance and maintenance, the district said.