Checking the district's numbers
The superintendent's 118-slide Transformation Proposal closes Kenny in all three options. We read every slide and listened to all 3 hours and 18 minutes of the Sept 15 meeting. Here are ten places where the deck's own data doesn't support its conclusions, each with the slide number, plus what was said about it in the room.
Transformation Proposal, MPS Board work session, Sept 15, 2026. 118 slides, PDF, about 27 MB. Posted by the district on BoardBook.
Slide numbers below match the page numbers printed on each slide. The Southwest pathway slides are 67 to 73.
Kenny closes in Option 1, Option 2 and Option 3 [Slides 71-73]. Arguing for one option over another does not keep Kenny open. What matters is whether the reasons hold up, and on the district's own slides, several don't.
Ten problems with the data
Each item shows what the slide says, then why it matters. "What the slides say" is quoted or computed directly from the deck. "Why it matters" is our argument, labeled as such.
- What the slides say
Slides 6 and 81 color every building red ("too small for MPS student experience"), orange ("large enough for MPS student experience, approaching optimal enrollment") or green ("large enough, optimal enrollment"). Kenny is orange. So are Armatage, Windom and both Lake Harriet campuses. Nine buildings citywide are red, and none of them is in the Southwest pathway. [Slides 6, 81]
Slide 25 gives the rule for elementary mergers: buildings "that do not have a large enough footprint for the necessary enrollment to provide the student experience are merged with school buildings that have sufficient physical capacity." [Slide 25]
Our argumentBy the district's own color code, Kenny does not meet the condition the district set for merging a school. Kenny appears to be closing to move Armatage and Windom from orange to green. That is a different reason from the one printed on slide 25, and the district has not said so.
What was said at the Sept 15 meetingThe facilities presenter reinforced the color code (0:18): a building "can't be shown as a green or orange dot on this slide unless it plausibly [can] have inclusive special education, early learning opportunities, and support student enrollment necessary to sustain the MPS experience, and oftentimes with room to grow." Kenny is orange. Slide 25's merger rule was read aloud at 0:35. No one explained why it applies to Kenny. Full meeting summary
Question to askKenny is coded orange, large enough for the MPS student experience. Slide 25 says only buildings that are not large enough get merged. Why is Kenny closed in all three options?
- What the slides say
Slide 3 lists "Cost/benefit analyses of closing or consolidation of schools" as something the board asked for in Resolution 2025-0045. The 118 slides contain no cost/benefit analysis, no operating cost for any school, no staffing savings and no transition costs. [Slide 3]
The only dollar savings in the deck are annual utility savings of $635,000 (Option 1), $560,000 (Option 2) or $705,000 (Option 3), marked "preliminary" and "±10%," with custodial staffing assumed unchanged. [Slide 112]
On buses: "On their own, the 3 options do not significantly change the efficiency of overall transportation routes, which is the primary driver of transportation costs." [Slide 116]
Our argumentThe 2026-27 shortfall is about $39.7 million. The utility savings equal 1.4% to 1.8% of it. Slide 82 says there are no immediate plans to repurpose the 15 or 16 buildings left empty, and the district's operations chief has put the cost of holding a vacant elementary at $50,000 to $80,000 a year. By our arithmetic, holding 16 empty buildings would cost $0.8 to $1.3 million a year, more than the utility savings in any option. [Star Tribune, May 2026]
What was said at the Sept 15 meetingDirector Callahan asked for "the exact dollar amount you anticipate saving from closing each specific school" (2:05). No answer. Chair Beachy asked how much of the structural deficit the plan solves (3:13). Deputy Superintendent Thompson: "what we know about school consolidations and closings across our nation is that it's not something that's like a huge cost savings... that hasn't been the intent." Slide 112, the utility figure, is an appendix slide that was never presented. Full meeting summary
Question to askResolution 2025-0045 required a cost/benefit analysis. Where is it, and what does closing Kenny save after transition costs and the cost of holding the empty building?
- What the slides say
Slide 94 shows the district's birth-data model predicting 5,369 Minneapolis kindergartners in 2025-26, which gives MPS a 44% share. The row beneath it uses the Minnesota Department of Education's count of actual resident kindergartners, 3,978, which gives MPS 60%. [Slide 94]
Our argumentThe model's cohort is 35% larger than the state's count. Some of the gap may be private-school and homeschool kindergartners the state doesn't count; slide 96 suggests that is roughly 400 children a grade. That still leaves about 1,000 children unexplained. The same kind of projection drives the growth assumptions and the number of schools the district says it needs. The deck prints both numbers without explaining the difference.
What was said at the Sept 15 meetingDr. McMurray gave an explanation (1:34): the 60% is higher "because many resident kindergarten-aged students move out of Minneapolis before becoming school-aged." She said the district looks at both numbers "to triangulate." She did not say which number sets the enrollment targets or the building count. No board member asked. Full meeting summary
Question to askSlide 94 shows 5,369 predicted kindergartners and 3,978 actual. Which number was used to size the building plan, and what explains the gap?
- What the slides say
Slide 27: today 53% of students "attend a school with enough enrollment to fund the MPS student experience," rising to 78%, 71% or 82% under the three options. [Slide 27]
Slide 28 and the pathway slides that follow repeat: "In all options, 100% of students have the MPS student experience." [Slides 28, 68]
Our argumentIf school size is what pays for the student experience, then 18% to 29% of students are still at schools that can't pay for it under the options. If every student gets it anyway, then school size isn't the precondition, and that removes the stated reason for closing Kenny. Both statements can't be true.
What was said at the Sept 15 meetingThe meeting made it sharper. Every presenter defined an optimally sized school as one with "enough enrollment to generate the necessary revenue to fund the MPS student experience." Then Dr. McMurray said (1:08): "we will guarantee the MPS student experience across all years, both now and with future growth, at all MPS schools." And Deputy Superintendent Thompson told Director Emerick (2:24) that schools "although not yet optimally sized, would still have the MPS student experience." If the district can fund it at a school that isn't optimally sized, size is not the reason to close Kenny. Full meeting summary
Question to askSlide 27 says 78% would attend a school large enough to fund the MPS student experience. Slide 28 says 100% would have it. Which is it?
We read all 118 slides, including the map images, which carry the school names. Numbers labeled with a slide come straight from the deck. Arithmetic (percentages, differences, totals) is ours and uses only the numbers shown. Figures from other sources are linked where they appear. Meeting quotes are verbatim from a recording of the Sept 15 work session; the time in parentheses is how far into the district's video the statement appears.
If the district publishes data that answers any of these questions, we'll update this page and say what changed. Spot an error? Tell us.
Online feedback is open Sept 16 to Oct 16. Community meetings run Sept 30 to Oct 9; Kenny's pathway meets Oct 8 at Southwest High School. Director Callahan asked for per-school savings by Oct 13. Ask the board and the superintendent to answer all of these in writing before the Nov 10 vote.