Parents Wary as District Seeks Input on Increased Enrollment

Editor's note: We published an of increased enrollment yesterday.

As Minneapolis Public Schools ask for public input to help plan for an expected increase in students, community members aren’t quite sure whether to trust the district.

If current trends persist, there will be an additional 900 students in Minneapolis elementary and middle schools by 2015, according to district staff. This week’s public meeting at Ramsey International Fine Arts Center was the second of six public hearings planned by the district in an attempt to engage parents on the issue of increased enrollment.

Some parents who experienced the district's process around Changing School Options are eyeing the engagement process warily.

“There’s been so much change that’s been irrational and inconsistent,” said Whittier International Elementary School parent Kirsten Delegard. “As a parent that’s the most frustrating thing, it’s impossible to engage like you’re actually part of the conversation.”

Associate Superintendent Theresa Battle opened the meeting: “We believe better decisions are made when the multiple perspectives of stakeholders are included, especially from those who will be responsible for implementing whatever decisions we make, and especially from those who will be impacted from the decisions we make.”

District staff acknowledged that Minneapolis Public Schools had sometimes failed at engagement in the past.

That’s part of why the district is making an early effort to gather feedback at this series of community meetings, said Scott Redd, executive director of family and community engagement for the district. “When a situation like this came about, the cabinet circled the wagons, made decisions, gave it to the board and then they rolled it out to the community,” said Redd. “This way, we’re flipping that model around.”

Parents at the meeting worked in small groups to propose plans to deal with increased enrollment in Minneapolis schools. Courtney Cushing Kiernat, who works on special projects for the superintendent, said parents’ ideas will be used in the planning process. She also said the district is looking into interactive technology that could help parents engage in the decision-making process.

The district’s Scott Redd said the meetings are part of a process of rebuilding trust with the community. “They want to see that their ideals come to fruition. If we don’t take any of these ideals and use them, they’re going to slap us around and we deserve to be slapped around,” Redd said. “We owe it to our families to say, ‘This is how we made this decision.’”

Matt Allen, a parent of two Kenwood Community School students, was still skeptical. “There are some really good people that are in the midst of a large system that are really trying to reach out,” Allen said of the district’s efforts. “You can’t just sit down for one meeting and come up with solutions.”

Parents are warily supportive of the district’s direction. “These [meetings] didn’t happen in the past," said Allen. "Even though this isn’t perfect, it’s a step in the right direction."

Delegard said she’s “excited” by the Minneapolis Public School’s (MPS) early efforts at conversation.

“It’s been my assertion for a long time that the district really needs to learn to engage the parents,” she said. “I really hope they think this through, that they do something sustainable—I’m not sure they’re listening.”