The Minneapolis school board will have two new members next year.
Former teachers union president Greta Callahan won her race in southwest Minneapolis, defeating early childhood educator Lara Bergman.
Incumbent school board member Kim Ellison, who has served on the board since 2013, won reelection, defeating accountant Shayla Owodunni.
Incumbents Sharon El-Amin, representing north Minneapolis, and Adriana Cerrillo, who represents downtown and parts of south Minneapolis, both ran uncontested and easily won reelection.
A second new member will be appointed by current school board members on November 12, to fill a vacancy for a south Minneapolis position left open by Faheema Feerayarre’s resignation.
“I’m humbled to continue serving on the Minneapolis School Board,” Ellison said in a text message Tuesday night. “I look forward to working with community as the board makes tough decisions. I’m committed to our students and staff and thank the voters for their support.”
Callahan could not immediately be reached for comment.
Next year’s school board will have big decisions to make. The district is starting its process of “school transformation,” which could include closures and consolidations. At the same time, more than 2,500 new immigrant students have enrolled in Minneapolis Public Schools, stabilizing the district’s enrollment for the first time in years. Those new students could lead to increased state funding — but also increased costs, because the state does not fully fund English language services. The end of COVID relief funding meant significant budget cuts last year, and the district is expected to cut more this spring. On Tuesday, voters approved a $20 million levy to fund school technology, which should provide more funding but is not expected to stave off further budget cuts altogether.
Callahan said that Minneapolis neighborhood schools were special places and she’d “fight like hell” to keep them open. She said she wanted to focus on convincing the state and federal government to pay more for education.
Ellison said that the school district needed to “right-size” without compromising quality. She said that closing schools did not save much money, but that it might make sense for the district to consolidate programs.
Cerrillo said she planned to continue working with elected officials at all levels of government to increase funding for Minneapolis Public Schools. El-Amin said she hoped to focus on improving academics and literacy for Black and brown children.
This is part of Sahan Journal’s live election coverage. Check back for updates.
