There is No Hope for the Minneapolis Public Schools

24 June 2025 Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education Retreat Strongly Indicates That There is No Hope for The District Under the Current Leadership of Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams and the Current Board Membership

 

District Transformation Through the Lens of Governing

 

Meeting under the above moniker, the members of the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Board of Education met from 9:00 AM until 3:45 PM on 24 June 2025 with the expressed purpose of establishing the features of governing, as opposed to managing (considered the purview of the superintendent and administration) the school district, while also clarifying the meaning of “Transformation.”

 

These long meetings are typically termed “retreat” but always ensue either at the Davis Center (MPS central offices, 1250 West Broadway) or in some other building of the district;  this retreat was held on the fifth floor of the Davis Center.

 

This congregation of the Board mercilessly did not bring back the buffoonish Betty Webb, who led two previous retreats and other meetings to great waste of public expenditure, so these slow-learner members seem to have finally realized that Webb’s facilitations had led to no increase in effectiveness as a Board.

 

And yet, such facilitators never increase effectiveness, so that the lack of difference in outcomes leaves the three to five community members who submit themselves to these tortuous hours hanging  to the meager hope of a particular facilitator being less personally offensive and more apt at organizing the meeting than others.

 

The facilitator at the 24 June meeting was Deborah Keys White;  she indeed did not manifest the goofy verbalisms or the silly mannerisms of Webb (nor did she have Board members playing with Legos, as did one previous facilitator [Paula Forbes]).  But neither did Keys Write bring any training in key subject area expertise to her role that would give her chance to guide the Board in defining academic goals;  the best that her university training could offer would be the prospect of conveying insights as to managerial and organizational efficiency.

 

Keys Write’s university degrees and certifications are given below   >>>>>

 

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Deborah Keys Write  >>>>>       Educational Background

 

B.A., Management and Organizational Development

 

with endorsement for Hospitality Management Services

(Spring Arbor University, Michigan, 2010-2011)

 

A.A. Associate Arts Degree

(Spring Arbor University, Michigan, 2007-2010)

 

 

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Greta Callahan arrived an hour and one-half into the meeting. 

 

Joyner Emerick attended virtually, appearing on screen throughout the Retreat. 

 

All other meetings were present physically from beginning to end. 

 

Thus the Board members attending were as follows:

 

Abdi Abdul

Adriana Cerrillo

Sharon El-Amin

Collin Beachy

Lori Norvell

Kim Ellison

Lisa Skjefte

Joyner Emerick

Greta Callahan

 

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Keys Write opened the meeting by posing a series of questions to prod members to think about themselves in their role on the Board  >>>>>

 

1)  How engaged to you think you are?

 

Most members rated themselves as being fairly to very engaged in their roles on the MPS Board of Education.

 

2)  Agreements

 

Members agreed broadly that they wanted to reach their goal of providing a “high quality, anti-racist, culturally responsive education for every Minneapolis student,” so that “all students---  regardless of their background, ZIP code or individual needs”---  will be prepared “for future success.”

 

Board members also agreed that they wanted to fulfill the aims of their Strategic Plan for

 

>>>>>    Academic achievement

>>>>>    Student well-being

>>>>>    Effective staff

>>>>>    School and district climate

 

 

3)  Retreat Objectives

 

Facilitator Keys Write led Board members to consider as objectives

 

>>>>>    Clarification of the meaning of Transformation

>>>>>    Clear communication of certain specific directions for Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams and staff.

 

4)  Retreat Outcomes

 

Similarly, Keys Write communicated to Board members that at the end of the meeting they would have arrived at the definition of Transformation and specified certain directions for the superintendent.

 

5)  Keys Write stated that communication styles make a person a better communicator, and she offered a classification of Board member communication styles as follows  >>>>>

 

Analyzer   (wants abundant information before coming to a decision)

 

Abdi Abdul

Lori Norvell

Lisa Sayles-Adams

Lisa Skjefte

 

Doer          (wants to move quickly toward decisions)

 

Greta Callahan

Adriana Cerrillo

Sharon El-Amin

Kim Ellison

 

Promoter   (wants to move Board members collectively toward agreement on specific goals)

 

Collin Beachy

Joyner Emerick

 

 

Board members generally accepted these characterizations of their communication styles, offered a few nuances, and gave examples of variously wanting abundant information, eagerness to act on prevailing issues, and wanting to facilitate group agreement on immediate and long-term issues.

 

The doers, especially, but also the analyzers and the promoters, indicated that their learning styles could result in great frustration pertinent to unresolved issues.

 

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Keys Write next offered for Board member consideration, as they approached the matter of  Transformation, six conditions pertinent to the topic  >>>>>

 

Six Conditions for Transformation

 

1)  Policies

 

>>>>>    The specific decisions that would have to made in the course of Transformation, consistent with official district policies as recorded in the official manual.

 

2)  Practices

 

>>>>>    Moving forward with a Transformation process on the basis of policy decisions and consistent with official regulations in the Policy Manual.

 

3)  Resource Flows

 

>>>>>    Identifying the resources for funding the Transformation effort.

 

4)  Power Dynamics

 

>>>>>    Considering the political and constituent forces that will respond to Transformation.

 

5)  Relationships & Connections

 

>>>>>    Building and drawing upon human relationships necessary to achieve Transformation. 

 

6)  Mental Models

 

>>>>>    Establishing the intellectual aegis for the Transformation process.

 

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Keys Write put up a visual on the screen at the front of the room that showed two fish facing each other in a body of water.

 

One fish to another, “How’s the water?’

 

Answer:  “What’s water?”

 

This visual was drawn from the website of FSG (Financial Services Group) to metaphorically advance that entity’s “The Water Systems of Change” for reimaging social change with careful attention to an awareness of the human and institutional environment in which change is sought.

 

Keys Write then accordingly led a fifteen minute discussion in which Board members spoke to their understanding of the environment---  central office staff, building administrators, teachers, students, and community---  in which Transformation would be achieved.

 

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The definition of Transformation was first broached at 11:50 AM---  approaching three hours into the Retreat.

 

Lori Norvell candidly replied that she did not know what Transformation meant as a current process at the Minneapolis Public Schools. 

 

Others shared a few thoughts on Transformation  >>>>>

 

>>>>>   Sharon El-Amin reviewed a three-year period in which the matter of building closing or repurposing at first seemed on the cusp of vigorous discussion before fading as a topic at the forefront of Board attention.

 

>>>>>   Joyner Emerick stated her conviction that district curriculum and pedagogy must be transformed to meet the needs of students in the year 2025 and beyond for all students, that particular emphasis should be given to nonwhite students, and that inclusivity for special education students should be a prime consideration.

 

>>>>>   Greta Callahan emphasized that a vigorous effort must be made to recruit and maintain students, and that energetic marketing to bring back students who have departed the district and attract new students to the district can overcome what otherwise appears to be discouraging demographics forecasting a lower birthrate and a reduced student population pool over the next decade.

  

After such initial comments, members of the Board gathered in pairs to discuss in more detail the components of Transformation.

 

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The groups of reference and their comments are given as follows Transformation  >>>>>

 

MPS Board of Education Member Comments on Transformation

 

1)  Abdul Abdi

      Adriana Cerrillo

 

Close the Opportunity Gap with targeted investment.  Dismantle systems that promote White Supremacy.

 

2)  Lori Norvell

      Kim Ellison

 

Deliver high quality education producing productive, contributing, empathetic citizens.

 

3)  Collin Beachy

      Sharon El-Amin

 

Make the Minneapolis Public Schools a destination school district.

 

Ensure that financial policy allows for capturing resources to be invested in student academic success.

 

Reimagine schools, considering specific school student populations.

 

4)  Lisa Sayles-Adams

      Lisa Skjefte

 

Dismantle White Supremacy, elevate cultural relevance, and grow human communities.

 

 

5)  Greta Callahan

      Joyner Emerick

 

Make the Minneapolis Public Schools a destination school district.

 

Assure transparency, inclusion, and equity of access.

 

Build community trust.

 

Audit current curriculum and pedagogical practices for ability to provide an education relevant to the futures of students.

 

All students find should have a pathway to success

 

As to the matter of an audit, in addition matters pertinent to academics,  

 

>>>>>   Emerick stressed that the administration should also evaluate building usage for possible closings and repurposing;

 

>>>>>   Callahan argued for reversing the Comprehensive District Design (CDD), with particular emphasis on bringing back open enrollment (implying a reversal of emphasis on neighborhood schools).

 

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Near the end of the retreat, Keys Write raised four topics upon which she asked that Board members and Sayles-Adams focus  >>>>>       

 

Four Key Areas of Focus

 

1)  Physical Space Safety

 

2)  Community Engagement

 

3)  Priority-Based Budgeting

 

4)  Spanish Dual-Language Program

 

Seemingly for the sake of time, Keys Write ultimately asked Board members and Sayles-Adams to focus on the first two areas of focus:  Physical Space Saftety and Community Engagement/

 

Board members gathered again in their groups and, after twenty-five minutes reported back to the public assemblage.

 

Keys Write compiled the answers on large canvass paper, provided as follows  >>>>>

 

1)  Physical Space Safety

 

Recommend schools for closure, with cost entailed and physical analysis.

 

Identify buildings most amenable to the provision of special education services.

 

Assess the Impact that building closing or repurposing would have on academic programming.

 

Identify Innovation Zones for experimenting with new approaches in implementing the academic program.

 

Assess the Impact that building closing or repurposing would have on the provision of Early Childhood Education;  assess the appropriateness of current space used for the provision of Early Childhood Education.

 

2)  Community Engagement

 

Continue to strengthen the Dual Language program.

 

Go door-knocking as part of the marketing campaign.

 

Emphasize and follow through with the lowering of class sizes.

 

Conduct marketing near charter schools in order to bring back students or to attract them to MPS

Before they exercise other options.

 

Emphasize and follow through with the provision of strong Music & Art programs.

 

Emphasize, market, and follow through with a return to flexible open enrollment (over neighborhood schools).

 

Seek community input by various means.

 

Bring back area meetings (as opposed to gatherings at the Davis Center).

 

Start conversations across city, asking the question, “Are we considering policies and practices that are most important?”

 

Give attention to special education as a key MPS priority.

 

Review academic pathways for students interested in particular programs and future careers.

             

Increase K-8 models over stand-alone preK-5 schools.

 

 

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Facilitator Deborah Keys Write brought the retreat to a close at 3:45 PM, fifteen minutes after the projected time to conclude the retreat.

 

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This Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education retreat of 24 June 2025 focused member attention on the need to define Transformation and to specify policies and procedures to be worked out in detail and implemented by the Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams administration.

 

But MPS Board of Education members clearly have not arrived at a consensus as to the meaning

of Transformation;

 

and little consensual specification characterized the retreat as to policies that should be followed in academic programming, building usage, or spending priorities.

 

For reasons that I will detail in a looming article, this retreat of Tuesday, 25 June 2025, demonstrated the ineptitude of this hapless group of Board members and lack of hope for any academic progress or any improvement in safety concerns under the leadership of Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams.

 

The Minneapolis Public Schools as a district has fallen into greater hopelessness than I have witnessed in my eleven years of intensive investigation into the inner workings of this iteration of the locally centralized school district.

 

As long as Lisa Sayles-Adams continues as superintendent, and then until another leader can provide better direction for this group of intellectually challenged and monumentally ineffective Board members, the condition will abide whereby  >>>>>

 

>>>>>      there is no hope for the Minneapolis Public Schools.