Jan 8, 2011
Minneapolis readers, please help preserve Howe Elementary
Howe Elementary, in the Longfellow neighborhood, has sat vacant for 6 years.
Minneapolis Public Schools is currently proposing that it be torn down, costing the district at least $700K. What many of us would like instead is for the building to be sold to a charter school. Not only would this make the district money, it would add more high-quality, free education in our area.
In the past the Minneapolis Public Schools have been very anti-charter school, but the new board—our elected officials—seem to be listening!
There is a petition you can sign to say that you’d like to see the district consider selling the building to another school. Currently, the total is around 365. Recently, several Minneapolis residents who live right by Howe met with two of the school board members and the board members were open-minded, but they’d like to see more signatures.
If you live in Minneapolis and it seems like a good idea to you to preserve the Howe Elementary building, save the district some money, and add to South Minneapolis’s available education, would you please sign the online petition?
And if you’re really feeling civically-minded, perhaps you’d show the petition to your Minneapolis friends as well.
If you’d like to know more or voice your opinion, there will be a community meeting to discuss the future of Howe Elementary on January 25 at 6:30 p.m. at Sanford Middle School.
Thank you very much! …Now, back to regular programming.
Update: Here are some shots of the interior
From Naomi Kritzer’s Flickr…
These make it all the more surprising to me that tearing this building down is being considered.
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wish i had the bank…i would just offer them the 700k & live in it! I would totally get go-karts to drive through the halls on.
I mean I would then give it to a charter school.
If I had 350k id totally split it w/u and race you.
Hahaha! Thanks, Roger Messner, for making me laugh at 07:01 this morning. Definitely go-karts. And if you did purchase it and then donate it to a charter school, I think there should be PE, Engineering and Auto Mechnics shop classes around go-karts in honor of the founder’s enjoyment of them.
The petition looks good – it can’t do any harm to ask the board to consider selling the building to a charter school. I love looking at this old building, and if there is a use for it, I’d love to see it – and the lovely green spaces – stay.
What a waste of money to tear it down. But I’m not a fan of charter schools, nor the implied ‘free’ education. Living in saint paul, charter/magnent schools have created large holes here. I’m to the point of disgust with twin cities schools, that I’ve debated moving back to South Dakota for my children.
THANK YOU for posting this! Two things:
Make sure you get the verification email. And then click on the verification link. It might end up in your junk mail box. Lots of signatures lost this way. :(
Look at the pretty, pretty pictures if you’re curious what this building looks like on the inside.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/50420099@N08/sets/72157625509134836/with/5224181897/
Great pics–make me think a Howe-gwarts theme attraction should be in the conversation.
Any point in signing the petition if I lived in Minneapolis a long time ago?
ha! that’s what jenny rigney said about it. but, surprisingly, i didn’t think of howe-gwarts! excellent idea. i think there is a faction of my neighborhood that would support a school for witches and wizards.
They need an education, too, right?
Thanks SO much for doing this, Abraham!
Thanks for bringing light to this. As a parent of a students in a charter school, and a local to Howe… Thanks. I totally howe being sold to a charter!!
That is a beautiful school. I would sign if I lived a few miles further west. I can’t believe the best alternative the district has come up with is to tear down that building? I would say WTF but I don’t think Wow That’s Fantastic.
I think it would be sad to lose such an amazing building, but the district also needs to be careful not to sell property to a “competitor” and cost themselves long-term revenue. The district has also undergone extensive requests for proposals for the property and NOVA already had their proposal denied – so it seems they are trying to work around the system.
Nova isn’t trying to work around the system. Minneapolis/Longfellow (specifically Howe) residents are leading this charge. The school board has refused to consider charter schools as potential buyers in the past, despite what the neighborhood desires.
A vote from the MPS board has yet to take place, and thus the offer remains on the table.
The whole point of the petition is to allow charters to be considered in the process. The Nova offer would provide fair and immediate revenue to the district and be the best/most logical use of the existing building and land.
I am not sure what crossn81 means by “competitor” but the district should be concerned with good education by any legal means, including charter, private or home schools.
Yes, the district should be concerned that all students get a good education, no doubt. But selling their property to someone who potentially would take students (customers) away from them?
Would Target sell property to Wal-Mart? It isn’t a smart business move. Sadly, the bottom line has to figure into the equation at some point.
I’m a strong advocate that the community voice should be heard. I hope that all involved received fair treatment during the RFP process. I assumed that NOVA’s proposal was already reviewed and rejected.
There are lots of questions swirling in my head, but I’ve already spent too much time and energy for an issue that I don’t really have a stick in the fire for.
I am a Sanford school parent and also the current Site Council Chair at Sanford.
I support taking down the Howe property to create a green space/athletic field for Sanford.
I love historic buildings too. Mpls. Public Schools have lost many lovely buildings over the years–some to use by other organizations and some to the wrecking ball. Many schools of the same vintage and size as Howe remain in use in the Mpls Public School District. Losing Howe would be a sadness but many similar buildings remain as historical markers.
As a parent and concerned Mpls residient I would insist that the District recycle and reuse every conceivable portion of the Howe School building. The actual use of those materials may not be yet envisioned but Longfellow neighbors are creative. Some really cool idea would come forward.
Sanford needs an athletic field. Sanford is the only stand alone middle school in “Area B” of the Mpls. School District. Sanford serves students coming from the entire southern and eastern areas of the city. Sanford has an obligation to provide athletic opportunities for its students.
Perhaps some Longfellow neighbors have a lingering memory of the out of control school that Sanford was 10-12 years ago. That Sanford no longer exists. Principal Meredith Davis runs a tight ship that provides a rigorous education for 600 kids. The sounds coming from a future Sanford field green space would be from excited kids and adults enjoying its benefits.