Superintendent Announces Plan For New North High
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The superintendent of Minneapolis Schools announced her plan to create a new program for North High School students.
This comes after Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson's recommendation last month to close the school following a dramatic decline in enrollment in recent years.
On Thursday, Johnson requested that a design team and research team assemble to help create a new educational program.
This does not necessarily mean building a new school building. It's not yet clear where the new program would be held. It may be at the old North High School facilities or it could be somewhere else.
Johnson said the plan was meant to guarantee that no matter where a child lived, they could have access to a high quality school. Currently, North High students' proficiency rates in standardized testing for science and math are in the single digits.
Johnson will go to the school board on Nov. 9th go forward with the recommendation to phase out North High. If the board approves her request, the school will not accept 8th graders. It would phase in beginning with the 9th grade.
Johnson argued that the cost per North High student makes it the most expensive school in the district to maintain.
Some people believe the Minneapolis School district hasn't done enough to keep the school open.
Parents and community members rallied outside of the school board when the recommendation was made, hoping to send a message.
The NAACP reacted to the recommendation by telling parents to pull their kids out of the Minneapolis School District if they value their child's education.
