Minneapolis City Council Intergovernmental Relations Committee Meeting Summary
Meeting Information
- Date: October 29, 2023
- Title: Regular Meeting of the Intergovernmental Relations Committee
- Present: Payne, Vetaw, Osman, Cashman, Chavez, Chughtai, Koski, Palmisano, Rainville, Chowdhury (10 members)
- Absent: Wonsley, Ellison, Jenkins (3 members)
- Guests:
- Katie Topinka (Director of Intergovernmental Relations)
- Collin Beachy (Minneapolis Public Schools Board Chair)
- Dr. Lisa Sayles-Adams (MPS Superintendent)
- Marion Tizón (MPS Office of Latine Affairs)
- Charlotte Kinzley (MPS Homeless/Highly Mobile Student Support Director)
- Ryan Strack (Assistant to MPS Superintendent and Board)
- Votes: 0 (Information presentations only)
Highlights
- Presentation of Draft 2025 Legislative Agenda and Policy Positions by Intergovernmental Relations Department
- Comprehensive Minneapolis Public Schools presentation on current state of the district, including:
- Budget challenges and enrollment trends
- Support for immigrant and refugee students
- Student homelessness and housing stability programs
- Partnership opportunities between MPS and City of Minneapolis
Discussion
Draft 2025 Legislative Agenda
The IGR department presented new staff recommendations for policy positions, including:
- Reducing barriers to medicines for opioid use disorders
- Funding for produce prescription programs ($8M over 5 years)
- Clarification on tax exemptions for affordable housing properties
- Updates to Community Land Trust home assessments
- Modernization of judicial review requirements for city settlements
- Various election-related policies and cannabis regulation updates
Minneapolis Public Schools Presentation
The bulk of the meeting focused on a comprehensive presentation from MPS leadership about the state of the district and opportunities for partnership with the city. Key points included:
- Budget and Enrollment Challenges:
- MPS currently serves over 30,000 students with nearly 6,000 employees
- Only 58% of eligible Minneapolis students currently attend MPS
- District faces significant budget shortfall for 2025-26 school year
- Chronic underfunding from state level continues to impact operations
- Support for Immigrant Students:
- Significant increase in Spanish-speaking students (23% of student body)
- Every school now has new-to-country students
- 86% of newly enrolled Spanish speakers require English Language services
- Student Homelessness:
- 30% increase in student homelessness last year
- 20% of student body has experienced homelessness during their education
- Stable Homes Stable Schools program has served over 5,000 children
- Disproportionate impact on students of color, particularly Indigenous and Hispanic/Latino students
Council members expressed strong support for partnership with MPS, with multiple members emphasizing the need to “lock arms” in addressing funding challenges. Councilmember Chavez notably emphasized concerns about potential school closures disproportionately affecting communities of color:
“The last thing I want to have is a conversation about schools closing, and when school, that conversation about schools closing is always in areas of communities of color, it’s areas where immigrant children study and learn, and it’s never about Southwest Minneapolis.”
No formal votes were taken as this was an informational presentation.
Public Comments
No public comments were taken during this meeting.