Minneapolis school board may name an interim superintendent next month

An interim superintendent for the Minneapolis School District may be named next month, the school board announced at its Tuesday meeting, which drew dozens of students protesting school schedule changes.

"Because we are in agreement that we want to develop a robust and comprehensive search process for our next permanent superintendent that will take some time, we need to arrange for an interim appointment to be in place," said Board Chair Kim Ellison. Ellison encouraged board members to "engage in outreach" over the next few weeks, which will inform her recommendation for an interim superintendent contract to be voted on at the May 10 board meeting, she said.

Ed Graff, who has led the district since 2016, announced in late March that he will leave the district when his contract expires at the end of June.

The board also plans to accept applications for the vacant school board seat from Thursday through April 28. Board members on May 10 will make a nomination from those applicants.

The at-large school board seat opened last month when Josh Pauly announced his immediate resignation during the strike. The board's appointee will serve the rest of Pauly's term, which runs until Jan. 2.

Tuesday's meeting marked the first one with a public comment period after a tumultous month for Minneapolis Public Schools, marked by a three-week-long teachers' strike that revealed division in the district.

Also on Tuesday, the district confirmed that Eric Moore, the district's senior officer of accountability, research and equity, is on leave pending an investigation. During the strike, a string of text messages between Moore and a union president was publicized in a blog claiming the messages suggest Moore wanted the superintendent job.

More than 100 students were in attendance, many of them in an overflow area watching a livestream of the meeting. Those students, as well as many parents and teachers who spoke during the meeting, expressed frustration with the school schedule change. By the end of the meeting, the students outside the chambers were yelling, demanding to be let in.

The school schedule shifts — which add 42 minutes to the school day and extend the school year two weeks in June — were a part of the return-to-work agreement reached between the district and the union after the strike.

Earlier in the day, several dozen students walked out of Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis at 3:10 p.m. — the school's typical dismissal time — to protest the lengthened school day and year. Similar walkouts happened at high schools around the city on Tuesday.

During public comment, North High students read aloud a letter written by the school's student council. In the letter, students wrote that North High already has a longer school day than the city's other high schools. Extending the day and pushing classes further into June hurts those who have after-school and summer jobs, internships and activities, the letter read.

At the meeting, CJ Davis, a senior at Edison High School, told the school board that the added time "destroys" parents' and students' schedules.