For parents, school quality is the worry

About 250 parents in the Minneapolis school district worried aloud Thursday that their children will lose access to quality educational programs if the school board approves its major downsizing plan this month.

At a community meeting at Roosevelt High School, parents' concerns came through in dozens of different messages about specific boundaries, principals or programs. But their worries largely boiled down to wondering if the programs they chose carefully under the current citywide school choice system will be taken away from their children.

"Moving to Anwatin will destroy the integrity of our school," said mom Susan Phillips, who sends two children to Emerson, where they attend a Spanish dual-immersion program that is slated to move nearly three miles to Anwatin Middle School.

"I'm having a little buyer's remorse and disillusionment with my school choice now that my student might have to leave," said Joshua Moberg, the father of a new kindergarten student at Whittier.

"You can't tell me that Sanford is going to have three world languages next year," an Anwatin Middle School parent told the people gathered at Roosevelt High School.

In the face of declining enrollment and years of multimillion-dollar deficits, the district is proposing to fundamentally shift how it operates. If the board approves the plan community members debated Thursday, five schools will close, four magnet programs will become neighborhood schools, and parents will have fewer school choices, unless they want to drive their children to school.

"You say there is open-enrollment still for those that can provide transportation," one parent told district officials at the beginning of the meeting. "But that's only open-enrollment for the affluent. That does not seem to be fair and equitable."

The Minneapolis district, with 32,000 students projected for this fall, is the third-largest in the state. The plan is meant to save money on transportation by keeping students closer to home, focusing resources on academic magnet programs that can stay true to their mission, and redirecting money into the classroom.

On Thursday night, the district gathered input from parents and community members in southeast and south-central Minneapolis. The meeting was the second of four the district is holding on its downsizing plan.

Christina Jennings, who has children at Folwell Middle School and South High School, was one of a few speakers who offered district officials any praise for their efforts.

"You've taken on a really tough problem, to replace choice with quality," she said. "We had lots of choices and very little quality."

Phillips, whose children attend Emerson, said that while the district has been debating its downsizing plan for many months, many Emerson parents just found out about the plan to move the program to the Anwatin Middle School site a few weeks ago.

Emily Johns • 612-673-7460

The district is hosting two more community meetings before the school board votes on the "Changing School Options" plan. Meetings are from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and include a brief presentation followed by a question-and-answer session.

MONDAY

Washburn High School, 201 W. 49th St. Includes information about schools in southwest Minneapolis

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