Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, photo credits linked above.
The Star Tribune recently reported in error that there would not be an incoming freshman class at North High this year. However, a proud North High parent posted to the Minneapolis Issues Forum an email from Superintendent Johnson that indicates the exact opposite. Organizers who have recruited new students repeatedly say that the number one barrier to getting committed students, parents, families, and other supporters is the concern that North High will close.
Since Johnson specifically stated on May 9, 2011, "I am pleased to announce that North High School will welcome a ninth-grade class in the fall of 2011," we need to spread the word that our North High Polars will indeed have a freshman class this year.
Superintendent Johnson's email is reprinted in full after the jump...
There will be a meeting this Saturday to plan the next steps for North High School. The video above leads off this post because in it Director Davis reads her amendment (a version of which was passed), and at the 2:00 mark she says we can no longer afford to disinvest in north Minneapolis. That statement drew raucously enthusiastic applause, and we need that kind of energy tomorrow.
Here is what the Save North Coalition announced in an email regarding Saturday's meeting:
"Last Tuesday the community campaign to stop the closure of North High School won a partial victory when the Minneapolis Board of Education voted 4 to 3 to keep North High open another year if the community could recruit 125 9th graders to the school by March. While this is a far cry from what the community was demanding, it shows that when we organize, we have real power. It also provides a new window of opportunity to continue to organize to save our school!
"This Saturday lets come together as parents, students, teachers, alumni, and concerned community members from across the Twin Cities to map out our next steps to keep this school open and revitalize public education on the North Side and beyond. We need all hands on deck and all voices at the table this Saturday to collectively create a student recruitment plan, a political strategy, and to take the lead in creating a community-led vision for revitalizing North High School."
For those of you who haven't seen the rest of the footage from the most recent School Board meeting, it can be found, along with some commentary, after the jump...
After much deliberation, and an outpouring of community input, Superintendent Johnson's proposal from last week was brought before the Minneapolis Public School Board as a whole. Due to other job commitments, I was unable to attend the rally before the meeting, and missed some early parts. But I stayed until the end of the meeting and recorded the vote that kept North open.
There are several hours of footage to upload and review. Until I have the chance to get a well-written post up about the broader issues, people can feel free to check out my Youtube channel for the videos I took during the meeting.
The VERY short summary of what happened is this: Johnson's proposal was presented, and amended to allow for the chance of a freshman class continuing to attend North High in 2011 (her previous proposal called for North to not accept incoming freshmen in 2011 while creating a new program, phase out the existing school, start a new North in 2012, and add a class each year until there would be a full school in 2016). In order for there to be a continuous student body at North High, we in the community will need to work with the school board to recruit an incoming freshman class of 125 students by March of 2011.
I'm guessing by now most everyone reading NXNS has heard Superintendent Johnson's proposal to continue with a phasing out of North High, take a year off to develop a new model, and re-open a new North High in 2012. (although not necessarily in the same building; we'll get to that) In looking at chatter on Facebook, the Strib, and elsewhere, reactions to the plan are varied - ranging from calls for a failing school to be shut down immediately to feelings that this "plan" has nothing of substance that is different than Johnson's original proposition.
While my initial response did not embody such extremes, it was still mixed. My first thought upon hearing Johnson's new idea was, "This might be as good of a deal as we're going to get." My SECOND thought was...
POST COMPLETE. All video footage from the press conference has been uploaded and added.
Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson called a press conference this morning to announce plans for North High. The buzz was that she would continue with the plans to phase out the existing North High, but there was speculation that somehow the school would be saved. After all, if plans to close were moving ahead as previously announced, why call a press conference to remind the community that you're doing something incredibly unpopular?
In essence, her plan now involves closing down the existing North High, phasing out current enrollment, working with the community on a plan during 2011, and re-opening a new North High for incoming freshmen in 2012, then adding a grade each year.
Plenty of news media were there, and the Strib and KSTP at least have articles and some footage up already. But the initial details were broken first on the NXNS Twitter feed, proving once again the speed and agility of non-traditional media.
More video footage will follow after the jump, as soon as it's done uploading on youtube...
Post, videos, and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.
Over 250 northside residents and North High supporters gathered for a community forum on Monday, October 18. We told the Minneapolis Public School board and superintendent exactly what the community thought of their proposal to close down North High School. Board members Madden, Williams, Lee, Stewart, Davis, and Flanagan were in attendance, as well as state Representatives Mullery and Champion, state Senator Higgins, and a representative from Congressman Ellison's office.
Superintendent Johnson began with a series of slides that gave an empirical account of North's decline while conveniently managing not to take any School Board responsibility for such events. The slides began...
Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman. Quick editorial note: I apologize for the lack of photos indicating the broad community support. I got into participation and note-taking and completely forgot about my camera.
On Saturday, October 16, Mel Reeves, Pastor Brian Herron, and representatives of PEJAM, Friends of North High, and the North High Alumni Association led a community forum on what can be done to keep this community asset open. Herron opened with a stirring invocation, and Reeves spoke about how school board members removed everything that made North High attractive. The removal of the "home zone" and feeder schools was especially damning.
Reeves and Herron rightly pointed out that this is not just about current or future students, but the community as a whole. Nobody is going to make a significant investment in a community without a school - not potential homeowners, nor businesses or employers. But the level of commitment goes both ways. "It's asinine to save a school if you're not going to support it," Reeves said. This means that the community has to work together on solutions, AND parents have to be committed to sending their children to the school.
Marcus Owens, a '99 graduate and member of the Friends of North High said that the school board's only plan was to close North High, and that they were not prepared for the 100-150 people that filled the last board meeting beyond capacity. We need to build on that momentum by bringing even more community support. But such support alone won't be sufficient without a plan, which is why PEJAM proposed...
