Latest news with #MinneapolisPublicSchools
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Minneapolis Public Schools will once again offer free meals for kids this summer
Minneapolis Public Schools will once again offer free meals and snacks for kids this summer. On Thursday, the district announced it will provide food free of charge to families with children under the age of 18 between June 9 and Aug. 29. Children do not need to be enrolled in Minneapolis Public Schools to be eligible for the program. The food will be available at more than 60 locations in Minneapolis, including parks, recreation centers, libraries and community sites, according to the announcement. Specific sites and times can be found on the Free Meals for Kids app. Sign-up is not required, but food must be eaten on-site. The program is part of the USDA's Summer Food Service Program.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
High school graduation rates reach record level in Minnesota
Minnesota recorded its highest-ever rate of high school graduation in 2024. In its annual data release, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) announced that the proportion of Minnesota students completing their high school education in four years hit 84.2% in 2024, up from 83.3% in 2023. While disparities remain between racial groups, there was an improvement from most demographics, with graduation rates among Black students 1.8%, Asian students 2.7%, American Indian students 1.6%, Hispanic and Latino students 2.5%, and white students 0.6%. The lone exception was multiracial students, the graduation rate for whom dropped by 0.1%. "The students of the Class of 2024 worked hard and overcame challenges to achieve this milestone,' said Commissioner Willie Jett. 'I am thrilled to see the success of many of our student groups – especially those most at risk – and a closing of the achievement gap as we work to make sure every student, of every background, zip code, and ability has access to a world-class education. I am also grateful for the educators, families and communities who stood behind these graduates and supported their needs and encouraged their successes. Their achievement is evidence that investing in kids pays off." In its announcement, MDE highlighted the threat presented by the Trump administration's proposal to dissolve the U.S. Department of Education, saying that such a move would threaten around $600 million in funding for students with disabilities, local-income students, and rural schools. In the Twin Cities, Minneapolis Public Schools saw its graduation rate increase by 6% after a significant drop in 2023, and while the proportion of students meeting math standards remains relatively stable compared to recent years, reading standards have dropped for the fourth consecutive year. At St. Paul Public Schools, graduation rates are "on a par" with pre-pandemic 2019. Meanwhile, proportion of students meeting grade standards in math has increased for each of the past four years, while science proficiency at its highest rate since the start of the pandemic, and reading standards at its second highest. Here's a look at the latest stats for Minnesota's five largest school districts: (You can check your local school district's performance here) Minneapolis Public Schools St. Paul Public Schools Anoka-Hennepin Schools Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Osseo Area Schools
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Live storm updates: Tornado watch issued in Minnesota
Monday is poised to be a severe weather day in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa as a potent storm system collides with potentially ideal atmospheric conditions, setting the stage for storms that could produce strong tornadoes, damaging winds and very large hail. Sign up for our BREAKING WEATHER newsletters The first tornado watch of the day has been issued in Minnesota, covering a large swath of central, west-central, and southwestern Minnesota. The watch went into effect at 12:30 p.m. and will remain in effect until 8 p.m. The watch covers the following counties: Brown, Chippewa, Cottonwood, Jackson, Kandiyohi, Lac Qui Parle, Lincoln, Lyon, Martin, McLeod, Meeker, Murray, Nicollet, Nobles, Pipestone, Pope, Redwood, Renville, Rock, Sibley, Stearns, Stevens, Swift, Watonwan and Yellow Medicine. Minneapolis Public Schools has followed the city's lead in closing early, canceling after-school activities. "Caregivers, students will be sent home on their regular bus or please make arrangements to pick up students immediately after school. Buildings and Minneapolis Kids will remain open until all students are picked up," the note to parents reads. Read more here. The Twin Cities continues to be in the highest-risk zone for strong tornadoes late Monday afternoon into the evening. Large hail in excess of 2 inches in diameter is also a significant threat. The City of Minneapolis says it is closing its public-facing offices on Monday afternoon in anticipation of Monday's severe weather. "The National Weather Service predicts the risk of severe storms in Minneapolis to be unusually high – a level 4 of 5 – with tornadoes, large hail, damaging winds, and frequent lightning likely," the city said. The city's non-emergency facilities, including its Service Center, will close at 2 p.m. Meanwhile its 311 call center has had its hours extended to 9 p.m. "to take storm-related calls." Residents are advised to ensure they have multiple ways to receive alerts, and be prepared to take shelter in a basement or interior room. "The most dangerous period is likely during the late afternoon and evening when strong tornado potential should be maximized. Scattered large to very large hail and damaging winds are likely as well," says the 11:30 a.m. update from the SPC. "Storms will be most numerous over central MN, with increasingly sparse development with southward extent across IA. Supercells capable of strong tornadoes and very large hail appear likely. Storms will track into western WI during the evening with a continued risk of significant severe weather." This from the Storm Prediction Center: "Isolated convection may develop over the next couple of hours from far eastern South Dakota into southwest Minnesota, northwest Iowa, and possibly northeast Nebraska. Large hail and damaging gusts would be initial risk, though a tornado risk also could increase with time/eastern extent. Area is being monitored for possible watch issuance." The 9 a.m. update from the HRRR model shows storms redeveloping in south-central Minnesota around 3-4 p.m., with those storms advancing to the east and impacting the Twin Cities, Mankato and Rochester during the early evening hours. The latest NAM3km model, however, doesn't show the squall line developing mid-afternoon. It appears to try and develop cells in south-central Minnesota, but instead waits until some supercells fire in southwestern Minnesota between 5-7 p.m. The Storm Prediction has placed a moderate risk -- level 4 of 5 on the severe scale -- over the Twin Cities, Mankato and Rochester. In the images below, you'll see the severe weather outlook, both zoom out on the region and zoomed in on Minnesota, along with the tornado and hail threat zones.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Book excerpt: 'Disciples of White Jesus: The Radicalization of American Boyhood'
Photo by Getty Images. The following is an excerpt from the recently published 'Disciples of White Jesus.' In its description, Publisher's Weekly says, 'A shifting American culture is pushing white Christian boys toward radicalization, isolation, and violence, according to this persuasive treatise.' Consider buying the book at an independent Minnesota bookstore. We cannot understand the problems of radicalization among young, white Christian boys in America, nor fully grapple with the challenges and troubles facing these boys, without understanding what's happening in American schools. And without consulting that most underpaid and too-often scapegoated American professional, the public school teacher. A teacher I'll call Joe, 59, is just the kind of teacher that hard-core advocates of traditional masculinity might dream up as their ideal educator for young, white Christian boys and men — at least at first blush. Joe, who has been teaching for 36 years in total, and 33 years in the Minneapolis Public Schools, stands 6 foot, 5 inches tall. When it comes to physical education instruction, which he has led for 23 years at his current school building, Joe is no-nonsense and almost stern, cutting a strong, athletic and disciplined figure, a product of his Marine veteran father, who worked for decades in underground pipelines after leaving the military. Joe spends his winter days at an upper elementary school in a relatively affluent neighborhood of Minneapolis, with a student body that's more than 85% white; only to drive across the Mississippi River after school to St. Paul's Central High School, where he works as an assistant basketball coach at a school that is 59% POC students, including 29% Black students, in a neighborhood where 18% of residents live in poverty. It's a fitting dual existence for Joe, who describes his childhood as a life in two worlds. His dad was a member of the Red Cliff Native American tribe, and the family lived together on the reservation near Bayfield, Wisconsin, even though Joe's mother was white. He recalls that sometimes he was bullied on both ends, about his Indigenous ancestry by the white kids, and from the Native kids, called an 'apple,' suggesting that while he was 'red' on the outside, he was really 'white' on the inside. Joe thought maybe that was because his teacher mom encouraged her four boys to do well in school, something that wasn't always popular on the reservation, for myriad reasons. Teaching PE and coaching basketball enable Joe to use parts of his skill set and personality that some advocates of gender absolutism might consider contradictory. He retains much of the 'tough-love,' 'old-school' military mentality that his dad instilled in him. And at the same time, Joe also saw the ways in which that hard-core masculine identity led his dad to a life of physical pain and even premature death. Joe saw the strengths and limitations of a masculinity that's only rooted in hardness and discipline. So he brings a bit of his mom's more nurturing side to his role as an educator and coach as well. After all, Joe says the best parts of his day are often the hours he spends in physical education with a smaller group of students with disabilities and cognitive delays. These students, who are often withdrawn or quiet or uncooperative in public settings, seem to innately trust Joe, something I saw firsthand when I served as a substitute teacher in his classroom. They know the rhythms and routines of the gymnasium; it was a place they clearly felt accepted, loved, and known — something achieved by an educator rooted in discipline and athleticism but also in emotional connection, patience, and kindness. Given his popularity among many of his students and student athletes, and his continued commitment to athleticism even into his 59th year, you might think that Joe is supremely confident and undeterred in any school setting. But he knows that washboard abs or biceps would be no match for an AR-15 in a potential school shooting situation. 'That scares me more than anything as a teacher,' Joe told me, when we discussed the potential of a school shooter coming to our shared neighborhood. 'Even who I am, there is very little I can do to stop that situation. The best thing we can do is just barricade ourselves.' Joe says he thinks about it often, imagining himself in the shoes of fellow teachers and educators who have faced active shooters in their buildings. 'They probably thought the same things I do,' he said. 'Your senses are so heightened as a teacher. You're making sure all your doors are shut. You're following the proper procedures for code red. What do you do? What do I do? What if I'm at prep? What if it's happening in another area of the building? Of all the things, that's the one that scares me the most.' I'm struck at this moment by the seriousness and vulnerability and sadness that has come over Joe's face. This is a man who deeply loves being a teacher. By the nature of his work with disabled students — among whom boys are overrepresented — and his role as a boys' basketball coach, Joe does tend to spend a bit more time with boys as an educator and coach, though his office is also filled with cards from former students, divided equally between boys and girls. He's also the father of a 20-something son, whom he watched attend school in the same district where he teaches. He says the two of them will talk about those boys who seem to fall through the cracks, the ones for whom traditionally male-dominated outlets like sports or mathematics don't seem to fit, but who also don't find their place in outlets like music or drama. He and his son recently together discussed the fact that two of his classmates — despite their relatively privileged backgrounds — had recently died of drug overdoses. Joe talked also of watching the boys who used to run with joy and abandon around his gym classes, pelting each other with balls, turn into sullen, withdrawn, and angry teenagers. Sometimes seeing them makes him feel sad and powerless. 'When you, as a teacher, can pinpoint those students out, you try and let them figure out a way for themselves, and also serve as advocate for them and help them find a way,' Joe says. 'Sometimes they just need an ear to bend. Sometimes parents will ask me about younger kids and help them find a group, or a place to fit in.' I realize, in talking with Joe, that it's not his height or his athleticism or his perceived traditional masculinity that makes Joe a favorite among his students, or that has enabled him to have such longevity as a PE teacher in a challenging time for public school teachers, especially in inner-city, urban school districts. For Joe, for his students: the key is trust and relationship. He has been able to carve out a unique sense of both in his role as teacher and coach in Minneapolis. But it doesn't escape me that even in this ideal school, Joe still faces the fear and anxiety of the violence of the wider world, the ominous threat of a school shooting.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Yahoo
School bus driver who fatally dragged pedestrian in crosswalk was not certified
The Brief A Minnesota school bus driver was recently convicted of careless driving after he hit and killed a pedestrian in a crosswalk in South Minneapolis in April 2023. A Septran school bus driver was "not certified" to operate a school and should not have been behind the wheel, according to police records. Internal bus company coaching records reveal the driver had been flagged at least 20 times for dangerous driving in the three months before the crash. MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A Septran school bus driver repeatedly flagged for dangerous driving was allowed to continue driving for one of the largest school districts in Minnesota until he hit and killed a pedestrian in a crosswalk. The backstory School bus driver Osman Ali hit and killed Josue Gochez Perez on April 24, 2023. Gochez Perez, 27, was walking in the crosswalk at 28th Street and Cedar in South Minneapolis on April 24, 2023. He had the walk signal and the right of way, according to police records and court testimony. Witnesses testified in Ali's recent criminal trial that the bus dragged Gochez Perez more than 100 feet before he died pinned underneath the bus. He had a wife and three young children. Police camera footage shows Ali describing the crash to an officer: "When I come through, the light is green… I don't see him when I pass… I think is a cone or something. I tried to stop – I can't stop." In a recent interview with the FOX 9 Investigators, Gochez Perez's family expressed their concerns about the bus driver's qualifications and the company that trusted him to operate a school bus. Dig deeper The school bus driver was employed by Septran – a school bus company that had a $4 million contract to drive students for Minneapolis Public Schools. An MPS spokesperson said the district "has protocols in place to keep our students safe while traveling to and from school on our buses." However, citing the ongoing legal matter, MPS declined to comment any further. Police records show Ali was "not certified" to drive a school bus since he failed to complete a written test known as "Appendix E" nearly a month before the crash. Ali only answered eight of the 20 safety questions. A Minnesota State Trooper wrote in a report that Ali "wasn't able to demonstrate… that he had sufficient skills and knowledge to transport students in a safe and legal manner." "How do we not look at this and say 'we've got to pull them off the road?" said Roger Poehls Jr., an attorney representing the victim's family. Internal Septran coaching records obtained by the FOX 9 Investigators reveal Ali's driving record had raised red flags for months before the fatal April 2023 crash. Ali was flagged at least 20 times for risky driving in the three months before the crash – including repeated concerns over incomplete stops and braking. What they're saying Poehls said the pattern of behavior exhibits a disregard of basic safety within Septran. "Somebody wasn't paying attention – somebody up above, supervisors – their program is not working," Poehls said. Gochez Perez's family is now suing the school bus company Septran and the driver. "You've got to have a better system in place to make sure these drivers are not on the road," said Roger Poehls Jr., the victim's family's attorney. "They're just not doing enough." Citing pending litigation, Septran declined to comment. However, the company's coaching records reveal how Septran responded to Ali's driving violations in the weeks leading up to the fatal crash. March 14: "He is making great strides in getting this under control." March 24: "Told driver we need to make complete stops."April 14: "He is making good progress getting this under control." Poehls described Septran's coaching as a "rubber stamp" and ineffective. Big picture view An inspection of the Septran bus involved in the fatal crash uncovered a loose battery and cables – violations that should have taken the bus out of service. That same year Septran failed 40% of its annual safety inspections. The FOX 9 Investigators previously found that more school buses statewide are failing inspections than ever before. What's next Ali no longer drives for Septran. He is set to be sentenced on his criminal charges next month. The Source Videos and accident reports were pulled from court records and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. The FOX 9 Investigators obtained internal records from the Septran Bus Company. Witness testimony was documented by the FOX 9 Investigators during the criminal trial of Osman Ali in January 2025.
