Deceptive Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams Continues to Maintain a Heavy Central Office Staffing Burden of Five Hundred Eighty-One (581) at the Davis Center

Davis Center Staff Receiving $200,000 or More in Annual Salary (May 2026)

 

Nine (9) staff members

 

Davis Center Staff Receiving Between $170,000 and $200,00 More in Annual Salary

 

Eight (8) staff members

 

Davis Center Staff Receiving Between $140,000 and $170,00 More in Annual Salary

 

Thirteen (13) staff members

 

Davis Center Staff Receiving Between $130,000 and $140,00 More in Annual Salary

 

Fifteen (15) staff members

 

Davis Center Staff Receiving Between $120,000 and $130,00 More in Annual Salary

 

Forty-eight (48) staff members

 

Davis Center Staff Receiving Between $110,000 and $120,00 More in Annual Salary

 

Thirty-four (34) staff members

 

Davis Center Staff Receiving Between $100,000 and $110,00 More in Annual Salary

 

Seventy-two (72) staff members

 

Davis Center Staff Receiving Between $90,000 and $100,00 More in Annual Salary

 

Sixty-six (66) staff members

 

Davis Center Staff Receiving Between $80,000 and $90,000 More in Annual Salary

 

Seventy-two (72) staff members

 

Davis Center Staff Receiving Between $70,000 and $80,000 More in Annual Salary

 

Sixty-seven (67) staff members

 

Davis Center Staff Receiving Between $60,000 and $70,000 More in Annual Salary

 

Twenty-three (23) staff members

 

Davis Center Staff Receiving Between $50,000 and $60,000 More in Annual Salary

 

Fifty-two (52) staff members

 

Davis Center Staff Receiving Between $40,000 and $50,000 More in Annual Salary

 

Eighty-one (81) staff members

 

Davis Center Staff Receiving Between $30,000 and $40,000 More in Annual Salary

 

Seven (7) staff members

 

Davis Center Staff Receiving Between $20,000 and $30,000 More in Annual Salary

 

Six (6) staff members

 

Davis Center Staff Receiving Less Than $20,000 in Annual Salary

 

Seven (7) staff members

 

 

Total number of staff members

 

                      581

 

Total Expenditure for Salaries for Staff at the Davis Center

 

                $50,221,551

 

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Comparison of Total Number of Staff Members at the Davis Center at Certain Junctures

 

April 2025                       >>>>>                 594

 

May 2025                       >>>>>                 584

 

July 2025                         >>>>>                 543

 

September  2025          >>>>>                 574

 

May  2026        >>>>>                               581

 

 

During spring 2025, the Superintendent Lisa Sayle-Adams administration made several conflicting claims as to staff reductions at the Davis Center, claiming at various times in April and May 2025 that reductions of 11.74%, 14.2%, and 13.8% had been made in anticipation of the budget proposal at academic year’s end.  The administration finally settled on the latter figure of 13.8% but had to admit, upon my investigation and questioning, that the 13.8% did not refer to actual reductions but to reductions in number of staff maximally allowed at the Davis Center.

 

Upon examination of actual staff reductions, we find that a two percent (2%) staff reduction was made from April to May 2025;  a seven percent (7%) staff reduction was made from May to July 2025;  a six percent (6%) staff increase occurred from July to September 2025; and that another increase of two percent (2%) was made from September 2025 to May 2026.

 

The drop to 543 staff members from May 2025 to July 2025 was likely due to summer staff resignations and changes, while the increase to 574 staff members likely reflects new hires to fill those vacated during the summer.

 

What is highly notable is that during the twelve months from May 2025 to May 2026, staff members at the Davis Center deceased by just three (3) positions for a paltry five-tenths of one percent (0.5%) decrease.

 

Understand, then,

 

>>>>>    that the Lisa Sayles-Adams administration made highly deceptive claims of staff reductions at the Davis Center that never matched the percentage claimed.

 

>>>>>     and that staffing at the Davis Center in May 2025 and May 2026 was at approximately the same level.

 

Know also, then, that at time of grave financial distress in the form of static student enrollment, (currently at approximately 29,000 students) and a deficit or approximately $40,000,000 (forty million dollars), no effort has been made to reduce the central office burden.

 

Also understand that with expenditure of $50,221,551 for salaries at the Davis Center as of May 2026, that figure is approximately four percent (4%) higher than the $48,341,612 comparable figure of May 2025.

 

Perpend  >>>>>

There is no effort by the Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams administration to reduce the central office burden at the Minneapolis Public Schools.

 

Candidates for Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education in 2026

At-Large

Collin Beachy

Christin Crabtree

Clifton CJ Henderson

Michael Baskins

Stephanie Johnson

 

Since more than four candidates filed for the two available seats, these candidates will participate in the primary to be held on 11 August 2026;  the four top vote-getters will proceed to the general election on 3 November 2026.

 

District 1

 

Abdul Abdi

Ben Lattimore

 

Since only two candidates filed for the available seat, these candidates will proceed to the general election on 3 November 2026.

 

District 3

 

Shannon Gibney

 

Since only one candidate filed for the available seat, this candidate will proceed to the general election on 3 November 2026 and, barring an unusually successful write-in candidacy, will in all likelihood be the next representative for District 3.

 

District 5

 

Becca Dryden

Molly Chase

 

Since only two candidates filed for the available seat, these candidates will proceed to the general election on 3 November 2026.

 

 

Of the above candidates, Collin Beachy (At-Large) and Abdul Abdi (District 1) are incumbents.

 

Current Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education members Joyner Emerick (At-Large), Lisa Skjefte (District 3), and Norvell (District 5) decided not to run for re-election.

 

Seats for District 2, District 4, and District 6 are not up for election this cycle;  those districts will be contested in November 2028.

Among Many Summer 2026 Activities, My Priority Will Be Refining the Substantially Complete Second Edition of >Understanding the Minneapolis Public Schools: Current Condition, Future Prospect< ----- and Taking the Leadership and Staff of the Lisa Sayles-Adams Administration Apart Piece by Piece

At this juncture, all regular academic sessions of the New Salem Educational Initiative have been completed for the 2025-2026 academic year, leaving only mini-rehearsals with individual and small groups of students, one all-cast rehearsal, and then the banquet on Tuesday, 16 June 2026.   

 

With activities of the New Salem Educational Initiative being in the concluding phase, and with Northfield Auto Care and Tires Plus having just completed a summer vehicle readiness regimen for the Matrix, I am very much looking forward to what is slated to be a very eventful and enjoyable summer.

I will as usual stay in touch with my students, who will be reading material that I have provided for the summer, and I will meet with individual students occasionally, especially for ACT preparation and to address particular academic concerns.

But I also have a bevy of travel and research plans for summer 2026. 

Four staged plays that I'll be attending loom in late June and July  >>>>>

Dramatized performance of Lisa May Alcott’s Little Women, at the Guthrie;  August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, at the Penumbra;  then Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream and Pericles, at this year’s Great River Shakespeare Festival.

Most likely in late July/early August I will make my annual trek to Texas.

Barbara and I will also most likely do our summertime travel thang, perhaps including one of our longer jaunts but also the short trips that we have enjoyed making these last several summers, including Winona but additionally other excursions within Minnesota and the border states.

..........................................................................

Then, I have a bevy of written material I’ll be churning out from my study.  

For many moons, I have aspired to get back to my history of North Minneapolis research and writing;  I aspire to write a book or an “as told to” of the life of the remarkable Spike Moss;  I have also wanted to interview the older deacons of New Salem, all of whom have very enthralling life stories;  and among many other literary aspirations I intend to focus much attention on beloved Taiwan. 

..........................................................................

But my priority will be refining the substantially complete second edition of Understanding the Minneapolis Public Schools:  Current Condition, Future Prospect.

Unfortunately, the intellectually corrupt and deceptive Lisa Sayles-Adams administration will add exciting material to the second edition, most especially including her abominably written dissertation;  sham “Listening Sessions”;  deceptive claims concerning central office staff reductions;  discontinuing promising skill intervention initiatives, online ACT tutoring, and online high-dosage tutoring;  ever worsening teaching and skill-deficient curriculum as actually delivered;  and attempts to besmirch the reputation while inducing the departure of Senior Finance Officer Ibrahima Diop.

I also intend to highlight the failure of the MPS Board of Education to address building usage (with attention to low student enrollment by comparison to capacity);  inattention to skill proficiency rates and academic quality;  and autocratic aura that has driven away many reformer types who have now given up on the district.

I will be taking the leadership and staff of Minneapolis Public Schools apart piece by piece.

Script Read by Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education Chair Collin Beachy at the Beginning of Each Monthly Business Meeting

At the beginning of each monthly Business Meeting of the Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education, Chair Collin Beachy reads the following script.

 

In the course of the summer, I will in articles on this blog be analyzing the script read by Beachy.

 

For now, I invite you, my readers, to analyze the script yourselves  >>>>>

 

>>>>> 

 

• Board members, public commenters, and any staff presenting, please speak slowly, clearly, and directly into your microphone to assist our interpreters and the closed captioning service.

 

• We ask that nobody cross the barriers and approach the dais either during the meeting or recess. During recess, you can connect with board members as they are in the café space or if we come into the seating area.

 

• Anyone who attempts to cross this threshold will be asked to leave the room for the remainder of the meeting.

 

• If there is not a chair available in the audience for you to use, it means the room is full and we ask that you watch from the room across the hall where the meeting is live-streaming, until someone leaves the room.

 

• If for any reason, we need everyone to leave the room, the exits are on this side, with the double doors in the back being the primary exit.

 

• Please follow any announcements and the instructions of the Emergency Management, Safety, and Security staff here supporting our meeting.

 

• We meet in a public setting so our community can watch the business of their public institution be conducted by their elected officials.

 

• Disruption of any kind that prevents people from seeing or hearing the meeting will not be tolerated.

 

• If a disruption causes an interruption to the meeting, a warning will be provided, and then the meeting will be in recess until the meeting can again be seen and heard.

 

• If disruptions continue, the board may need to reconvene in another space with limited seating to complete our work.

 

• We ask for your continued cooperation with these protocols and our public comment guidelines, which I will share prior to opening the public comment portion of the meeting.

 

• We welcome you this evening and thank you for being here.

 

Prior to Public Comments:

 

·        Next, we will hear from those who signed up to provide comments here tonight.

 

·       As staff projects the list and our first speaker gets ready to come to the podium, I will remind us of the public comment guidelines.

 

·       We again ask those providing public comments to use professional decorum, to be respectful, to be kind, and to be cognizant of how your words and actions are perceived.

 

·       We must model the level of respect and concern for others here that we expect in our classrooms and schools.

 

·       To review, our goal for this portion of the meeting is to hear from those who have signed up in a fair and respectful way.

 

·       To do this we ask each commenter to:

 

• Begin by stating their name and relationship to Minneapolis Public Schools

 

• Remain professional at all times

 

• Keep comments within the two-minute limit, or four minutes if using an interpreter

 

• Not mention identifiable information about individual staff members or students

 

• Not use profanity, insults, slurs, or threats.

 

• Again, under no circumstances, may a speaker approach the dais beyond the markers. If you have materials for the board, they can be placed on the table next to the podium or given to staff on the side of the room

 

If these guidelines cannot be followed, I will provide a warning, and then if needed, I will turn off the microphone and end your comment time.

 

Please remember that this is an opportunity for the board to hear from the community, so we will not respond in the moment to comments or questions.

 

Staff may follow-up or connect with you, based on your comment.

 

Finally, I want to emphasize that for the protection of everyone’s privacy, public commenters should not mention identifiable information about students or staff—regardless of if the comment is positive or negative.

 

If you’re not able to resolve a situation working with the appropriate staff and need further assistance, every board member is accessible by phone and email, and we can connect you with the appropriate resources to help process your concern.

 

We’re also very happy to hear your positive feedback about individual staff members, but again, request that it be done via email, phone, or to board members directly in-person, rather than during public comments.

 

We ask for your cooperation on this important part of our process.

 

Thank you.

 

<<<<< 

---

              

 

 

 

 

 

Meeting Opening:

 

Next, I want to offer a few reminders and notices about our meetings and this room:

 

 

Minneapolis Public Schools Davis Center Staff Receiving Between $110,000 and $120,000 In Annual Salary

Kaley Gregory Czech

Manager, Occupational & Physical Therapy

$117,686

 

Charles Kendall-Thomsen

K-12 Content Lead (Science)

$117,686

 

Maria F. Froud-Martinez

K-12 Content Lead (Magnet/Dual Language)

$117,686

 

Cierra Channel Burnaugh

Human Resources Business Partnerships

$117,686

 

Nneka Niambi Abdullah

K-12 Content Lead, Office of Black Student Achievement

$117,686

 

Grant L. Lindberg

Program Manager, Planning & Construction

$117,686

 

Tierney Carroll

Manager, Accounts Payable

$117,686

 

Stephen K. Alexander

Manager, Community Education Programs

$114,816

 

EDD G, Hansen

SAP Systems Engineer

$114,816

 

Monique Sharde Tweh

Manager, Social Work

$114,816

 

Jeffrey Y. Helstrom

Project Manager, Planning & Construction

$114,816

 

Diedre H. Geye

Project Manager, Planning & Construction

$114,816

 

Anna Marei Cierney

Project Manager, Planning & Construction

$114,816

 

Immelda M. Belim

K-12 Content Lead (Literacy & Humanities)

$114,816

 

Alex Halvorsen Kuehn

School Improvement Specialist

$114,816

 

Morrigan Gorliante Meglindir Hughes

Data Scientist, Senior

$114,816

 

Stephen E. Montgomery

K-12 Content Specialist (Core Academics)

$114,816

 

Anne S. Lewerenz

Teacher, District Program Facilitator (Extended Learning)

$114,306

 

Katy Marie Schalia Lesiak

Teacher, District Program Facilitator (Health Services)

$114,306

 

Fiona Rosa Keel

Teacher, TOSA Instructional Specialist

$114,306

 

Vicki J. Paek

Teacher, TOSA Third Party Trainer

$114,306

 

Debra Anne Krawetz

Teacher, TOSA Instructional Specialist

$114,306

 

Anna E. Beal

Teacher, TOSA Third Party Trainer

$114,306

 

Harry E. Malone-Povolny

Manager, Grant Funding & Resource Development

$112,015

 

Channing C. Jones

Administrator, Minneapolis Residency Program

$112,015

 

Kyle P. Bohm

Systems Network Engineer, Senior

$112,015

 

Edgar F. Alfonzo

Director, Engagement

$112,015

 

Anthony B. Gregory

School Improvement Specialist

$112,015

 

Thomas Morris Krueger

School Improvement Specialist

$112,015

 

Leila Mohamed Hassan

School Improvement Specialist

$112,015

 

Whitney M. Clemens

Manager, Accounting and Finance

$112,015

 

Brittanny Marie Palmer

Human Resources Business Partnerships

$112,015

 

Jessie L. Morgan

Teacher, District Program Facilitator

$111, 658

 

Carletta L. Dukart

TOSA Third Party Trainer

$110,334

 

Jessica Elda Oliver-Tebbe

Program Coordinator, Out4Good

$109,387

 

Charles Kippley

Student Information Analyst

$109,284

 

Krista G. Gustafson

Program Specialist, Community Education

$109,284

 

Erin A. Lawrence

Manager, Speech & Language Services

$109,284

 

Marie Alice Rosko

Coordinator, Media Relations

$109,284

 

Alex D. Park

Coordinator, Creative Design Services

$109,284

 

Thuythanh T. Tran

Administrator, Minneapolis Residency Program

$109,284

 

Michael John Herriges

Data Scientist

$109,284

 

Cory Monte Roseth

School Improvement Specialist

$109,284