A Q&A with Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams

Lisa Sayles-Adams started her new position as superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools in February as the district entered a deeply challenging budget year. 

Despite this and other challenges, she says she’s optimistic and excited about the future of MPS. 

“I’m coming in with the heart of an educator,” Sayles-Adams told MinnPost, noting she has spent almost 30 years with the district. “I’m a product of public schools. I graduated from St Paul Public Schools, my children went to public schools, my grandchildren go to public schools, and many of the children that I care about. So I believe in public schools, and I want to ensure that Minneapolis Public Schools becomes a destination school district for every family in Minnesota.”

Here’s what Sayles-Adams had to say about the year to come: 

(This Q&A was edited for clarity) 

MP: It is the beginning of the school year. How was the first day?

Sayles-Adams: The first day was outstanding. Our school year has gotten off to a great start, and we’ve maintained that momentum. There is a buzz of excitement and optimism across the district that continues to be maintained. So it feels good. 

MP: What do you hope to achieve in your first full school year as superintendent?

Sayles-Adams: I really want to ensure that our students are thriving and that we are able to help all of our children experience success in the classroom, outside of the classroom, and give them opportunities so they can have lifelong success as a learner. And in whatever they want to do beyond high school, we’re getting them ready for that. That next step can be nerve wracking, but when you feel you’re ready and you have choices, that’s the best.

MP: It’s a unique school year with most pandemic aid dollars expiring this year. The district already had to face shortfalls in its last budget process. Can you outline some of the unique challenges facing MPS in the years to come? 

Sayles-Adams: Unfortunately, I would say that our budget constraints are not unique to Minneapolis Public Schools. This is a budget crunch that schools are really facing across the country, and with the sunsetting of COVID-19 dollars, that has really put a crunch on a lot of school districts where they felt that they had the funding that they needed, at that moment, and since that (funding) is not really being maintained, that’s what schools are really trying to account for at the moment. The other thing we need to think about with the budget, it’s really about prioritizing what student’s need and then making those investments in those children.

MP: Can you tell me about the MPS technology levy on district voter’s ballots and why you’re  advocating for voters to approve it?

Sayles-Adams: So the tech levy ballot question that will be on the ballot on Nov. 5, that’s one of our strategies to help balance our budget. Voters will have a question on the ballot asking them to consider a $20 million annual increase in the amount of dedicated funding for technology. This will minimize cuts to our programs and operational costs. So we’re really hoping that people take a consideration for that opportunity. Voters can also go to our website and we have a web page that I think really lays it out. There’s also a tax impact calculator on that website. 

MP: What is the MPS “transformational process?”

Sayles-Adams: So first, I’d like to say that the transformation process actually started in December of 2023, when the school board passed a resolution and that resolution asked the administration to look into four things: a physical space study, community engagement, budgeting for financial efficiencies and implementing a Spanish dual-language immersion task force. So, with that, I’d love to just talk a little bit about all four areas. 

For the physical space study, since December, we created a dashboard for each of our schools that have highlighted important information about the physical building, demographic information and more. That’s actually all online, so anyone can go to the district website and search the dashboard. You can put your school in and it’ll pop up. There’s a lot of unique information. Now we have that information, the next step is walkthroughs (of schools).

With the community engagement piece, our team is currently working on and reviewing feedback that we’ve received over the years. The information that we’re going to be looking at, it’ll be data that’s been collected through the comprehensive district design. There’s also a wealth of information in the district’s  Equity and Diversity Impact Assessment. Then we also have parent participatory surveys,  with the data and information that was collected through my most recent listening tour. So we’ll have all of that information that we’re going to take a look at. We will then start sharing that out with our community and keep them apprised for our next steps. 

For our budget, a lot of work started last year. That’s one of the reasons why I came on early in February so we have a lot of work underway but we’ll be looking to identify more efficiencies in our budget. Again, ultimately the budget is really about prioritizing the needs and focusing on our students and really trying to deliver on our mission. We want to make sure students have what they need. I cannot talk enough about the tech levy ballot question. That will be a (budget) strategy as well. 

MP: Could this process potentially lead to the closure of buildings?

Sayles-Adams: There could be a chance of school closures, consolidations. We’re just not sure yet. We want to make sure that we’re able to get all of this information to the board so they can take an opportunity to look at it, to ask us questions, to analyze, so they can get into discussion and then start to make decisions. Then they can let us know what our next step will be. We (administration) want to make sure that we’re walking through the resolution – that’s something that they asked us to do – and we’re going to be making decisions along the way. It’s a multi-step approach. So it’s not just the transformation process. It’s also looking at hopefully growing our enrollment and being more efficient with our programs. Also, something that we’re always doing, is making sure that we advocate to the state and federal government for additional funding. 

MP: When will the district have to start making budget decisions? 

Sayles-Adams: We have a budget finance calendar that was submitted to our finance committee. That just walks us through the whole budget process. But a lot of that won’t be determined before November. It’s a full year process.

MP: Teacher shortages have been a major challenge for many districts across the country. How is staffing currently at MPS? 

Sayles-Adams: We actually have really good news for that. The narrative might be a little different than what you think. What I love to share is that, this year, our teacher vacancy rate is only 3.6%. It’s the best that it’s been in years. So that’s really good news. And when I’m out in the district and around our buildings, you can feel the impact that it’s having on how positive our staff are and how our students are getting what they need. 

As of a couple of months ago, Minneapolis Public Schools is a part of an initiative in the state of Minnesota for a teacher apprenticeship program, and that’s an opportunity to help with the teacher shortage crisis. We’re working with staff that are already working with students. They may not be fully licensed, but this program is an apprenticeship program where they actually get to learn side by side with licensed educators. We work to help them learn on the job. This program also helps remove barriers for people looking to get teaching licenses. So we’re really excited about it. Because it just started, this program isn’t contributing to the low (teacher) vacancy rate, but we hope it will keep the momentum going.  

MP: What about MPS makes you excited going into this year? 

Sayles-Adams: I’d love to share that we are a destination district for families that are new to the country, and our district was recently recognized by the City of Minneapolis for the work that we’ve done with our newcomers during welcoming week. So we’re really excited about that. 

We have some more really good staffing news that we would like to share. We’re excited to have Tracy Bird, named Minnesota’s Teacher of the Year. We also have Roosevelt High School’s Christian Ledesma, who was selected as principal of the year for the Hennepin County division. 

In other good news, there was a ribbon cutting on the renovated space at North High School and the new New Career and Technical Education Center. This is an $88 million investment in our students, and we know how valuable the trades are to our students, our families and our community. 

You know, when I’m talking to people in different industries, whether it’s locally or around the state, I’m really feeling a lot of hope and a lot of positivity. People are really keeping sight on the positive things that Minnepolis is doing. I know that we have work that needs to happen, but there are many great things that are happening inside our classrooms, outside of our classrooms, on our fields, on our stages, and we do offer the best, and we want to make sure that we’re ensuring that our children have what they need. We’re not there yet, but we are on our way.

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