Mark Gilson 🌱

I've decided to open up one of the tools I use to monitor School Board Meetings in Minnesota. This monitors 67 school districts, and it even has PELSB meetings in the mix, see the tutorial video I made below. Many 👀are better than mine alone, and I hope this helps some of you keep tabs on school districts you find relevant across the state of Minnesota. Reach out if you have questions or district monitoring requests. 🔗closedloopresearch.com/schoo…

School: Eden Prairie (@EPS272) Topic: School shooting 0:00 - An Eden Prairie parent urges the school board to release aggregate data on how many students were disciplined after a recent football game fight, warning that a lack of accountability is driving families to consider leaving the district. 🔸2:06 - “I do not want my children attending school alongside students who are actively involved in gangs” 🔸2:50 - “Safety requires accountability.” 3:17 - A parent argues that the district’s safety report is a rubber stamp that ignores staff concerns and the recent shooting, urging the board to vote no on accepting the evidence. 🔸4:22 - “Three weeks after a shooting at our homecoming game, the position is nothing needs to change.” 🔸4:37 - “Real leadership, in my mind right now, looks like asking for a harder standard, not a rubber stamp.” 6:13 - A parent describes the lasting trauma students experienced during the shooting, noting that children are having flashbacks, and calls on the board to form a committee to address safety failures. 🔸7:23 - “The kids that were terrified that night are still having flashbacks to seeing a body laying in the grass.” 8:20 - Eden Prairie Superintendent Dr. Swanson defended the staff’s response to the recent shooting, saying their training ‘paid off,’ but admitted he went home ‘angry’ and ‘hurt’ that evening, promising to continue improving safety measures. 🔸8:49 - “The training and all the work that we do continuously in the district did pay off that evening.” 🔸9:19 - “I will tell you I went home angry that evening. I went home pretty hurt that evening.”

School: Anoka-Hennepin (@AHSchools) Topic: Ethnic Studies This dad has done his homework. A curriculum sold as inclusive and enlightening ought to withstand basic questions from parents. 0:00 - Challenges incomplete history and asks what his son is actually being taught. 1:36 - “Show me the materials before my son sees them.” 4:05 - “I cannot get a straight answer from the district or the state.” 4:09 - “And what I have seen has been uninclusive and inaccurate.” 5:19 - John Wolhaupter, local Education Minnesota president: Defends ethnic studies with lofty assurances and a book presentation. 5:52 - “…more information helps us make better choices.” 6:09 - “I have two books for you tonight.” I've read the book The Color of Law, and if that's what kids were being taught, John's topic *might* be relevant, but they aren't, so it isn't. Every parent in Minnesota should know what their kids are being taught...this shouldn't be hard.

School: Farmington (@district192) Topic: Strategic Roadmap The board reviews and approves the district's new strategic roadmap, including mission, vision, and core values, following a seven-month process involving surveys, focus groups, and consultant work.

School: St. Francis (@ISD15) Topic: Math MCAs Superintendent Karsten Anderson questions the relevance of the MCA math questions: 🔹"Are these questions really relevant to the workforce today?" Ok, cool, maybe they need to be updated, but then he states, "I'm a math teacher", and then later... 🔹"I might be able to answer two or three questions out of these 15 completely, maybe." What has our public education system become? 🤷‍♂️

School: Sartell (@isd748) Topic: Title IX, MSHSL, @MakeItFairMN 1:55 - Sartell School Board member mentions the actions at the MSHSL board meeting related to boys in girls' sports.

School: Albert Lea (@AlbertLeaSchool) Topic: School closures 0:32 - The superintendent presents three options for closing an elementary school, detailing attendance boundary changes and increased bus transportation requirements. 4:40 - Albert Lea school board member Dave Klatt cites a conversation with the Minneapolis school board chairman, who stated that over 50% of their buildings have 60% or less utilization, arguing that proactive closures are necessary to avoid significant budget cuts.

School: Minnetonka (@TonkaSchools) Topic: Open Enrollment Focus on academics, not pushing an ideology or political opinion. 5:06 - Superintendent Law and Dr. Getty present data showing that open enrollment generates $73 million in revenue, with $15.3 million remaining after costs, which the district uses to fund programs and maintain class sizes. 🔸1,018 District 112 residents enrolled in Minnetonka. 🔸50 Minnetonka residents enrolled in District 112. ❌Net loss: 968 students. xitter.gq/markwgilson/status/211…

School: Hastings (@ISD200) Topic: 🏳️‍🌈flags, Policy 505 Do these teachers and community members want their district to get sued, because that's where this ends up (e.g. Lakeville)? 0:00 - Lisa Hedin: Accuses board members of targeting rainbow flags and uses equity concerns to challenge their record. 1:07 - “The work that the board’s been doing has not been making a movement on that yet.” 1:38 - “…members of the board for multiple years have been making efforts to remove rainbow flags and rainbow stickers from the district.” 3:28 - Katie Nye: Portrays oversight of classroom displays as micromanagement and says limits on LGBTQ+ symbols harm students. 5:17 - “It seems it’s because this policy was designed to eliminate rainbow flags and LGBTQ plus safe space markers…” 6:37 - “Are students at the heart of what you’re doing or politics?” 6:51 - ELCA Rev. Dr. Jules Erickson: Invokes religion and personal experiences to argue for keeping rainbow flags and safe person pins in schools. 7:36 - “Why wouldn’t you want to create safe spaces and places for teenagers to land while they’re figuring out who God created them to be and become?” 8:52 - “Did you, as heterosexuals, decide who you were attracted to? Also, being gay isn’t a lifestyle. It is an orientation that has been around since the beginning of time.” 10:12 - Jesse: Predicts bans on cross necklaces and coffee mugs, warning of a “minefield of litigation.” 12:01 - “And if any of you are wearing a cross necklace tonight, you will be in violation.” 13:02 - “It will open the district to a minefield of litigation.”

The truth is the @MinnesotaDFL just didn't care about fraud until it became so obviously problematic that they simply couldn't ignore it any longer, not because they actually care about fraud, but because they care about getting elected. #mndfl #mnleg #trifecta

School: Rochester (@RPS535) Topic: Enrollment decline Enrollment decline will be more and more common across the state. How districts adapt to lower enrollment will be very important for both the students and the community. Rochester Public Schools reports a 378-student enrollment drop for the 2026-27 school year, with finance staff noting that the incoming kindergarten class is 563 students smaller than the graduating senior class.

I didn't think this trend would continue, but @ISD112 seems to have an ever growing population of families that would rather send their kids to neighboring public schools. Net open enrollment of 1,014 students in 2025-2026. xitter.gq/markwgilson/status/211…

School: Bemidji (@ISD31Bemidji) Topic: MSHSL Amendment, @MakeItFairMN At the Oct 19th Bemidji School Board meeting, members debated a letter supporting the MSHSL bylaw amendment process concerning transgender athletes. After public opposition and a student representative’s criticism, the board approved sending it: 4 ayes, 1 nay, 1 abstention. 0:00 - Motion to remove the MSHSL letter from the agenda fails. 2:28 - Former Bemidji City Council member Michael Meehlhause (2013-2020) opposes the letter, saying it targets and marginalizes trans students. 6:01 - Current school board candidate Colleen Bakken argues the letter conflicts with district goals for student belonging. 9:32 - Student representative criticizes the board’s approach and its impact on LGBTQ students. 10:26 - Board member challenges the student’s characterization of the letter; the chair intervenes. 13:15 - Proposal to send a letter supporting the MSHSL bylaw amendment process for athletic eligibility. 19:29 - Board approves sending the letter: 4 ayes, 1 nay, 1 abstention.

Now for another round of "How is this legal?", we have MDE's "Grow Your Own-Adult Pathway Competitive Grant", where they require grantees to allocate funds based on the race and ethnicity of the teacher candidates. 🔸"The grant recipient must use at least 80 percent of grant funds to provide tuition scholarships or stipends to enable district employees or community members affiliated with a district, who are of color or American Indian, and who seek a teaching license, to participate in a teacher preparation program." 🔸"We will give priority points based on districts with the highest percentage of students who are of color or American Indian by districts falling into one of the following quintiles." 🔸"Systemic racism creates barriers for people of color including Indigenous people to pursue teacher licensure. How do these barriers show up in your school(s), and how will this project mitigate and remove barriers for people of color and Indigenous people?" 🔸"How have you designed the program to use research-based strategies to recruit candidates of color and American Indian candidates to participate in this program?" Document: education.mn.gov/mdeprod/idc…

School: Rosemount (@ISD196schools) Topic: Enrollment Decline Rosemount District 196 reported a 1.2% drop in enrollment to 28,593 students for the 2026-27 school year, with finance staff attributing the decline to statewide birth rate trends and demographic shifts despite local housing growth. 🔸“Enrollment as of October 1st, 2026, was 28,593 students, which is 341 students less than the enrollment count on October 1st, 2025” 🔸“Birth rate trends continue to be a driving force on enrollment across the state of Minnesota”

School: Columbia Heights (@CHPSisd13) Topic: ICE Some school board members use their position for political reasons; Mary Granlund is one of those people. Board chair Mary Granlund reports on a trip to DC to attend an Amnesty International event regarding the impact of ICE on communities and to meet with Rep. Omar’s Chief of Staff to discuss district issues.