On May 12 the Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education voted on a Comprehensive District Design (CDD). The CDD will mean sweeping changes in school configurations such as which schools are magnets and which are community schools. The school board says that this CDD will ensure that all students, regardless of their background, zip code, and personal needs will receive a high quality, well-rounded education.
One of the first things you need to know about this new plan is that no structural changes, such as grade reconfiguration or staff moves, will go into effect until the fall of 2021. Also, since these changes won’t happen for another year, there may be some more changes or tweaking to it.
One of the big changes this CDD brings forward has to do with magnet schools. Currently most magnet programs tend to be south of downtown with some near the southern City border. This new plan would move magnet programs to buildings that are closer to the center of the City making it easier for Northside students to attend a magnet program if they want to. There will also be a change in the types of magnet programs offered. The magnet programs would be Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM), Science Technology Engineering Art and Math (STEAM), Arts, Dual Language Spanish, Montessori, and Global Studies and Humanities. Three of the magnet programs will now be at Northside schools: Hall, Bethune and Franklin. Schools that no longer have magnet programs will now become community schools. Also, the high school Career and Technical Education programs will be centralized into three sites: North, Edison and Roosevelt.
Another big change is that, for the most part, there will no longer be K-8 grade configurations. Instead there will be K-5 elementary schools and grade 6-8 middle schools. There will also be boundary changes for many community schools.
The proposed school configurations and attendance boundaries from the board meeting can be found at https://v3.boardbook.org/Public/PublicItemDownload.aspx?ik=46315381.
The proposed district structure from the school board’s meeting can be found at https://v3.boardbook.org/Public/PublicItemDownload.aspx?ik=46315383.