How we got here

The Minneapolis Park Board acquires the site, a former gravel pit. It was planned as a shared campus between the park board and the school board.

Kenny is built as a community school in postwar Southwest Minneapolis. MPS lists the building at 60,104 square feet, designed for about 389 students.

The park is named for Sister Elizabeth Kenny, the polio nurse behind Minneapolis's Sister Kenny Institute. It sits between Kenny Elementary and Anthony Middle School (opened 1958) on a campus designed for shared use.

District enrollment peaks at roughly 46,000 students. It has declined through most of the years since.

MPS closes more than a dozen schools, concentrated in North Minneapolis. Tuttle closes in 2007 and is still district-owned and pending sale in 2026. No Southwest school, Kenny included, appears on those closure lists.

The legislature had given the school board a choice in 2006: vote to switch from seven at-large seats to six district seats plus three at-large, or put it to voters. The board voted against the change itself. Voters then approved it directly, about 66% (104,283-54,042) — the same structure the board still uses today. A similar proposal had failed once before, in 1987.

The board approves a $45 million plan to reopen three closed schools (Howe, shut in 2005; Folwell, shut in 2010) and move more than 4,000 students, after enrollment rose 330 students that fall — the district's first increase in a decade. Howe and Folwell reopen in 2012-13; the district had been trying to sell the Howe building. This is the same institution now proposing to close up to 16 more schools.

Graff, previously superintendent in Anchorage, is appointed after the board's first choice, Sergio Paez, fell through: two days after selecting him in Jan 2016, the board learned of a criminal investigation into alleged abuse of special education students by staff under him, and ended negotiations.

A districtwide facilities assessment rates Kenny's building in poor condition. MPS said a new assessment would happen in 2025; as of Sept 15, 2026 no result is posted.

Kenny enrolls roughly 470-480 students, more than its design capacity (federal data as compiled by third-party sites; year labels vary by source).

The board votes 6-3 to redraw attendance boundaries for nearly every school, centralize magnet schools and cut K-8s from eight to two. The plan explicitly avoided closing schools. It took effect in fall 2021.

The city auditor estimates the redesign contributed to 4,200+ students leaving MPS within two years. Kenny's enrollment falls from roughly 410 to roughly 330 around this period.

The roughly three-week strike ends with raises, class-size caps and a social worker in every building.

Graff announces he will not continue weeks after the March 2022 strike. Rochelle Cox, a 25-year MPS veteran, is named interim superintendent unanimously.

The district reports that the number of elementary schools under its 300-student programming threshold went up by one after the redesign. The Star Tribune later reports no CDD progress report had been given since early 2023.

After a first reading on Nov 14, 2023, the board adopts Resolution 2023-0072, starting a process that includes closing and consolidating schools among the options to study.

Selected by the board 8-1 on Dec 1, 2023, the same month the board adopted the transformation resolution. She is the district's fourth permanent superintendent since 2016.

Board members, principals, teachers and staff walk through all MPS buildings. Kenny is recorded at 295 students, about 76% of design enrollment, which the district's own report calls "efficient." The study, released in November, finds about half of buildings underused. The Southwest schools named as underused were Burroughs and both Lake Harriet campuses, not Kenny.

The board directs the superintendent to report on closing, consolidating and repurposing schools, including a cost/benefit analysis for any physical change. An amendment to define the undefined target "sweet spot" as 70-89% capacity fails 2-6.

Staff present five parameters that will drive options: enrollment targets, minimum program size, program types, building utilization (example target 80-90%) and community school boundaries.

A slide on K-8 schools says the K-5 portion needs 485-795 students at schools like Kenny (under 70% free/reduced lunch) to deliver the full "MPS student experience." Kenny's building holds about 389 at full design capacity.

The Star Tribune reports MPS holds six vacant buildings. District operations chief Tom Parent says an empty elementary costs $50,000-$80,000 a year to maintain and a sale can take two years or more.

Staff lay out the calendar. Decisions made after Nov 10, 2026 would likely push any changes to the 2028-29 school year.

The board adopts the 2026-27 budget with a shortfall of roughly $37-40 million (reported figures vary) and directs the superintendent to bring back options this fall.

In the citywide at-large primary, Christin Crabtree leads with 49,254 votes to Chair Collin Beachy's 43,276. Both advance to the Nov 3 general — seven days before the Nov 10 vote on school closures.

The Minnesota Elementary School Principals' Association recognizes Kenny after a self-study and peer review process aligned with national standards for leadership, learning and community engagement.

The Minnesota Reformer reports MPS lost $4.1 million in special education aid by under-reporting expenses, alongside other financial errors and adverse audit findings.

At the same meeting the three options are unveiled, Director Callahan reads a statement saying the board directed staff to deliver three transformation options, not a closure list, and that a small group of staff drew the plan up "behind closed doors." Director Emerick calls the process "very courageous." Chair Beachy asks staff directly how much of the district's structural deficit the plan actually solves; the deputy superintendent answers that closures are not "a huge cost savings."

At a 5:00 PM board work session the superintendent presented three transformation options. Kenny appears only on the "current" side of the Southwest Pathway diagrams (slides 71-73) and is listed by name as an unprogrammed building on slide 82 in Option 1, Option 2 and Option 3. The same deck codes Kenny orange, "large enough for MPS student experience." Informational item, no vote.

In 92 minutes of questions after the presentation, the deputy superintendent told the board closures are "not something that's like a huge cost savings"; Director Norvell asked for the "optimal size" number and got no answer; Director Callahan called the options "offensive" and asked for per-school savings by Oct 13; three members said the timeline is too short. No board member asked about Kenny. No vote.

District staff meet with staff at each school proposed to close or merge, starting 8:15 AM. Principals were called before the Sept 15 meeting. The online survey and interactive map open the same day and run through Oct 16.

Rob Thesing appeared on The WCCO Morning News with Vineeta Sawkar the morning after the board heard the three options, raising the district's missing progress report on the 2020 Comprehensive District Design and the absence of any published savings figure for the proposed closures.