Pushback leads Minneapolis schools to restore some funding for Latino, but not Black, student programs

Minneapolis Public Schools plans to restore some funding to the Office of Latine Achievement, following public outcry over proposed budget cuts.

But the district still plans to follow through on its cuts to the Office of Black Student Achievement, despite pushback from students and some school board members. The cuts come as Minneapolis Public Schools grapples with a $75 million budget deficit.

Marion Tizón, the director of the Office of Latine Achievement, expressed gratitude for the restoration of funds to her department in a May 13 meeting. But she cautioned there is more work to be done, and advised the school board to approach budget cuts from a lens of equity.

“When we do cuts, we need to really look at who is serving our students,” she said. “Specifically our Latin, our immigrant students, our Native, our African American, our HHM [homeless and highly mobile] students, our students receiving special education services, should be the last to lose services when they’re looking at budget cuts.”

The budget amendment, brought by finance committee chair Abdul Abdi in an April 29 meeting, will bring the office’s total budget to about $832,000, down from $1.1 million last year, a 29% cut. Previously, the budget was slated to be slashed to $340,000 — a 71% cut.

The funding restoration will reinstate Tizón’s position, as well as positions for three academic coaches in the Office of Latine Achievement. Under the previous funding cuts, OLA would have had no operating budget. Now, it will have reduced capacity.

But tensions over funding for the Office of Black Student Achievement — and the role of school board members in setting the budget — spilled over in the May 13 school board meeting.

The Office of Black Student Achievement, which had a $2.2 million budget last year, is slated for cuts of about $750,000 — more than a third of its budget. As a result, it will reduce its high school course offerings by about half, as well as cutting programming for elementary and middle school students.

District officials have said that the Office of Black Student Achievement was funded at higher levels for the last few years due to COVID relief funding, which expired last year, and that the office will now return to previous funding levels.

In the May 13 meeting, school board member Joyner Emerick, who uses they/them pronouns, said they had spent the last several weeks digging into the OBSA cuts, meeting with students and staff who will be affected by them. Emerick said they had received more emails on this issue than any other in their term so far.

Currently, the Office of Black Student Achievement provides a course called Building Lives, Acquiring Cultural Knowledge in nearly every high school. That class serves about 400 students.

School board member Lori Norvell said that it was her understanding that it was up to “experts” among the school staff to decide how departments should use their allocated funds, and that it was not the school board’s job to interfere in those decisions.

“I want to make sure that the people who are the experts are deciding those things that are best for our students,” she said. “If the money’s not changing, if it’s staying the same in that department, then what is our job here?”

Emerick said they were not trying to change the way a director or department allocated funds, and wanted to do more work before bringing a possible budget amendment. But they pushed back on the suggestion that this was not the school board’s responsibility.

“I’m a little flabbergasted, to be honest, that that would be the sum total of the conversation, is ‘We’re school board directors, so we don’t touch that.’” Emerick said.

Dena Luna, the director of the Office of Black Student Achievement, told Sahan Journal that her office existed to “awaken the greatness within Black students in MPS” so they could achieve success by their own definition.

In nearly every high school, OBSA offers credit-bearing elective classes, divided by gender — Kings and Queens — to help students celebrate Black culture, joy, and history. In some middle schools and elementary schools, OBSA provides weekly groups for students to explore the same subjects in an age-appropriate way. The office also provides opportunities for student field trips and visits to historically Black colleges and universities. And the office provides staff professional development and family engagement.

One study showed that students who participated in the class had higher attendance rates, grade point averages and graduation rates, Luna said.

Unlike in past years, Luna felt this year that she did not have control over the budget cut process in her department. However, she said, she was able to negotiate for some additional positions. Initially, 14 of her 20 staff were slated for cuts. She negotiated for five additional positions.

The school board will vote on a final budget on June 10.

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This story comes to you from Sahan Journal, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to covering Minnesota’s immigrants and communities of color. Sign up for a free newsletter to receive Sahan’s stories in your inbox.