Retrenchment by Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams from Her Own Administration’s Plans for Closing or Repurposing Schools
On Tuesday, 13 October 2026, Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams recommended that plans to close as many as 16 schools should not occur “at this time.”
The MPS Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday night to scrap plans to close or consolidate schools next fall, shelving what was to be a November vote on a proposal that could have shuttered as many as 16 buildings. This announcement by the superintendent surprised Greta Callahan and Sharon El-Amin, who were poised to propose a resolution to pause the closures pending more community consultation.
El-Amin commented that she felt “blindsided” and that Sayles-Adams making her opening statement without discussing her retrenchment with board members was “unacceptable.” “I hope as we’re talking about mo ving forward, it’s moving forward for the collective and not for a grandstanding moment,” continued El-Amin, who represents District 2 centered on North Minneapolis.
The Board, though voted unanimously for the resolution proposed later in the meeting by Callahan and El-Amin that nixed any closures for the 2026-2027 academic year. The resolution also included language articulating the need to growing enrollment, provide school choice, and expand early learning options.
The Minneapolis Federation of Educators (MFE) and their allies in the organization Minnesota Families for the Public Schools were elated at the decision; union president Marcia Howard had spoken during Public Comments, as had several their of the allies. Over twenty parents and teachers asked the board to delay the vote.
I alone spoke in favor of plans to close the schools. I praised the plans as extraordinarily thoughtful but lamented the Sayles-Adams and Board retrenchment as cowardly.
And, indeed, given the actions that marred the process that brought Sayles-Adams to the Minneapolis Public Schools and the abominably petty and ethically corrupt moves made by the superintendent, both she and the members of this inept Board should resign. The imperative for ridding the district of Sayles-Adams takes added impetus for the unconscionable maneuvers detailed in Article #4.
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