Some charge school district isn’t communicating with South High

Many stunned to learn about new ABE/T+ building along Lake St. instead of expansion of Barnard Field

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
The question for some neighborhood residents isn’t whether Adult Basic Education and Transition Plus (ABE/T+) need space, but whether they need a new facility next to South High’s athletic fields.
Before they commit to using that land adjacent to South, Ericsson resident, and high school parent Steve Richter wants an assurance from the district that South High has the space needed to complete the Barnard Field project as requested and outlined.
“At this point, we do not have any such guarantees from them,” said Richter. “Once that project is completed, our ability to expand beyond our current footprint becomes very limited.”
Currently, the immigrant-focused Adult Education occupies 54,000 square feet in a three-story building at 2225 E. Lake St. known as the Brown Institute. However, the property was sold for $8 million and is being transformed into a large commercial and residential development by L&H Station.
As part of the sale agreement, MPS was granted up to eight years to relocate the ABE programs and can stay on the property without any assessment against the district for the first three years.
The Transition Plus program currently occupies approximately 64,000 square feet in two levels of the Wilder School at 3320 Elliot Ave. S., and 18-21-year-olds with the Wellstone Program would remain there. With the move, T+ would lose an auditorium, two computer labs and half of a gym.
Community members have several concerns about the cost and size of the proposed ABE/T+ building at 2005 E. Lake St. which is slated to break ground this spring and open in 2018.
“It seems to me that they are attempting to squeeze two programs that currently occupy much more space and have much more parking into a smaller facility, with limited parking. I am concerned because, from some of the descriptions that we heard, this new building may be too small for the programs it houses very soon after it is completed,” said Richter.
“Additionally, if the district is almost $30 million over budget from last year, it seems like this may not be the best time to take on a $30 million project.”
Adding insult to injury, according to South High parent Stephen Dinger, is that the district is building a new $5 million underground parking lot for the ABE/T+ building while there isn’t enough parking for students or teachers at South High.
Dinger suggests that rather than spend so much on a new building, the district use an empty one, such as Cooper School in his neighborhood at 33rd and 45th Ave. S. He pointed out that the closed school has been sitting empty for ten years but has ample space and parking.
He is upset that the district has made its decision about the ABE/T+ building despite community opposition.
“It’s such an extravagant thing at this time,” said Dinger, who attends Parents United For South High (PUSH) meetings.
District isn’t communicating
South High Site Council co-chair Scott Schluter pointed to a January 2016 letter in which the Corcoran Neighborhood Organization, Minneapolis Council Member Alondra Cano, South Principal Ray Aponte and Foundation President Ayers all asked MPS to consider South High before moving forward, and MPS did not reply to any of them.
“We have real concerns that MPS is not responding to the needs of the South High community, not only with the athletic facilities but a long-term plan as well,” said S. Schluter.
He is frustrated that South High is still waiting for better athletic facilities.
“There is such a long and dated story to an athletic facility that should have been updated 20 years ago when the plans were first drawn,” said S. Schluter. “We all thought we knew what was happening. We were wrong. We were not part of the process this entire time.”
His daughter, Emma Schluter, a junior at South High, is also frustrated by the miscommunications and misleading that has happened along the way. “It is a well-known fact, among the students, that the athletic facilities are in bad conditions, to put it lightly. Because it is so well-known among the students, many assume that others know the state of the facilities as well,” she pointed out. “Unfortunately, this is not the case.”
According to E. Schluter, students and parents continue to ask, “‘When are the improvements going to happen?’ We’ve been waiting a long time for improvements on the field, and nothing has happened.”
Photo right: Portions of the South High track have worn away to the concrete base, creating an unsafe running situation, pointed out student athlete Emma Schluter. She is frustrated at how unresponsive the district has been to the athletic needs at South High while planning to construct a new facility for Adult Basic Education that would block the ability of South High to expand Barnard Field. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)
S. Schluter and Richter have met with Said Ali, the school board member that represents the area South is located in. He promised to work closer with them and the superintendent to move the project along, and has plans to contact the school board members who represent other parts of the school attendance area, which is much larger than just the neighborhood of Corcoran. It includes all of Longfellow, Phillips, and the neighborhoods south of Corcoran, as well as students, come from the rest of the city.
“We feel a sense of urgency since budgets are being discussed right now and the ABE/T+ project is being put out for bids,” said Richter.
‘I am skeptical’
“I want to continue to give the district the benefit of the doubt, that they will take care of us, but I am skeptical at this point,” said Richter.
“We have sent repeated requests via email and letters to Superintendent Graff and the MPS Board without reply as to what we need to do, who we need to follow up with and how is best to keep this project from getting lost,” said Scott.
“We have sent a plan to the board from the South High Principal, the South High Foundation, the South High Site Council and the chair of the South High Field Committee that would help make an impact on improving the spatial layout of the track and field. All of these requests have had no response.
“That is what we need: an MPS that responds and helps us do now what should have been done 20 years ago.”

Article appeared in the May 2017 Longfellow Nokomis Messenger.

Twenty years later South High still waits for better athletic facility

Parents, students point to unsafe conditions at Barnard Field and question why the district hasn’t fixed the problems

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
Minneapolis Public Schools Adult Basic Education (ABE) and Transition Plus (T+) are getting a new building along E. Lake St. while South High School students continue to wait for safe athletic facilities. And, some parents and students don’t think that’s right.
Parents United For South High (PUSH) and the school’s site council are pressing the school district to make good on promises it made in 1995 to update Barnard Field.
“For 20 years and eight superintendents, MPS has known that the athletic fields and practice space are undersized, unsafe and inequitable compared to other schools in the area,” stated site council co-chair Scott Schluter, who started the blog, mpsneedsaplan.weebly.com, to keep people informed.
The 26-year Ericsson resident sends one daughter to South High and watched another graduate from there in 2015.
His daughter Emma Schluter is captain of the soccer team and races on the track and field team.
“We are not asking for a grand new stadium,” said E. Schluter, who is one of 1,800 students at South High, the district’s largest high school. “What we want are facilities that address the needs of our student population, current and incoming. More importantly, facilities that meet regulations, are safe, and can compare to the other Minneapolis Public Schools. We, as students, want facilities that we are proud of; that we can proudly say: ‘Yeah, I go to South!’”
Parents and students are frustrated that the district’s plans for a $29 million, 87,000-square-foot educational building at E. Lake St. and 21st Ave. would block the ability of the South High to expand and to reposition its football field north/south. They say they were stunned in July 2016 when they discovered the district wasn’t planning to use the land it had acquired for South High.
Illustration left (click on it to see it enlarged): South High students come from a large part of South Minneapolis, as shown by this graph, but the district’s communication has been with just one neighborhood, pointed out South High Site Council Co-Chair Scott Schulter. He would like to see other affected neighborhoods included in discussions that affect South High. (Graphic provided)
The 1995 plans for the field turned it to a more playable north/south direction, and practice space was added on the west side of the field.
“Why the district has to put any building that permanently blocks any improvement to the largest school population in Minneapolis and without input from the school’s administration, staff, students and the South High community is disappointing and wrong,” said Scott.
Unsafe playing fields
The main issue for players, according to E. Schluter, is safety.
“It does not seem right that it takes such a long time and such persistence for the district to do anything when the facilities are not safe,” stated E. Schluter. “Safety should be something that the district provides and maintains without the need for lots of attention to be drawn to it before they do something.
We want to be proud in our school, in our facilities, and be able to grow our sports and the sense of community it can build within both the school and the surrounding neighborhoods.”
It is difficult to play on the field in its current condition, pointed out E. Schluter. The width of the field is the biggest issue for her. “It is not a wide field, which changes the style of soccer that can be played,” she explained. “More significantly, the track, along with drains and concrete, sit directly off of the field—no more than a couple of feet from the lines. On the north side of the field, the long jump and pole vault runs even have concrete that sits inches from the field. Regulation is 10 feet for the closest thing from the field. These factors compromise the ability to play safely. Specifically, for soccer, we can’t slide tackle or make plays along the sidelines without worrying about coming in contact with some form of concrete.”
Photo right: About 100 people stood in bone-chilling temperatures in January 2017 on South High’s Barnard Field to rally for fixes to the deteriorating field. According to Emma Schluter, the field isn’t safe for either soccer or track and field, the two sports she plays. (Photo submitted)
The field also has a very strong angle or arch to it, which at times make it impossible to see the ball on the other side of the field, E. Schluter added.
“In terms of the track, the conditions are horrendous,” said E. Schluter. “The track might as well be concrete, and in fact, in several spots, the thin layer covering the track is missing, so it is just concrete. As a result of this, our track is notorious for causing shin splints. This is often the reason why so many of our runners can’t finish out the season.”
Her father added, “We also need lighting for night games, a sound system for announcing, bleachers that are handicapped accessible and are not hand-me-downs from Roosevelt, and a turn-key press box like other schools have so it doesn’t take volunteers hours to set up a game.”
“By providing South with an updated field, track, scoreboard, lights, bleachers, and PA system that is on par with most other schools in the district and many other schools across the state, they would be giving our students and our community a sense of pride that is currently lacking,” said site council co-chair Steve Richter, who has lived in the Hale-Page-Diamond Lake neighborhood for 22 years. His youngest daughter is currently a junior at South High, and another graduated from there four years ago.
The hope is to replace the current six-lane track with one that has eight lanes and to use artificial turf.
“Because of limited practice space and playing fields, even though it may not be our first choice, it makes sense to replace the natural turf with and artificial turf that can be used by more teams, more hours of the day,” said Richter.
Grant awarded for part of field
In March, Minneapolis Public Schools was awarded a $250,000 grant from the Hennepin County Youth Sports (HCYS) Grant to develop an artificial turf athletic field and amenities at South High School.
At its Nov. 15, 2016, meeting, the school board agreed to match this grant if it was awarded, and now has $500,000 dedicated to the South High School field project.
The expected budget necessary for the entire project is $3.15 to $3.19 million.
MPS has committed to providing an additional $250,000 funding match, as other grants are sought and awarded.
According to a press release, MPS will be including Barnard Field updates in its 2018 Capital project proposal and hopes to move forward with the project in summer 2018.
Jay Pomeroy, a landscape architect with Anderson-Johnson Associates, has been contracted by MPS to develop plans for the facility and presented a few concepts to the site council’s Barnard Field planning committee in February.
“The plan so far is not adequate. That doesn’t mean that it can’t get there, but we have very little guaranteed so far,” remarked Richter. “We have drawings with no firm commitment that they fit our space and only about 15 percent of the money needed to complete the project.”
The most frustrating part for Richter is the uncertainty. “They say they will do something for us, and have even provided an architect to draw up plans, but that is where the commitment stops,” said Richter.
“Our fields have not been updated in over 20 years, and there is still the possibility that the district will put it off again.”

Article appeared in the May 2017 Longfellow Nokomis Messenger.

MPRB presents five scenarios for Hiawatha Golf Course

Five scenarios being studied for Hiawatha Golf Course:
• Alternative 1 – Existing Conditions: 18 hole golf course, current pumping; affects one house
• Alternative 2 – No groundwater pumping, berm in-place; other park use, pumping to manage stormwater only; affects 9-14 houses
• Alternative 3 – Reduced pumping, berm in-place; other park use, reduced pumping to protect basements and manage stormwater; affects 0-4 houses
• Alternative 4 – Reduced pumping, gravity-connection; other park use, reduced pumping to protect basements, gravity connection to Lake Hiawatha (no stormwater pumping required); affects 0-4 houses
• Alternative 5 – Reduced pumping, gravity-connection, open channel and creek realignment; other park use, reduced pumping to protect basements, gravity connection to Lake Hiawatha (no stormwater pumping required), development of the open channel and realignment of Minnehaha Creek; affects 0-4 houses

Only one of five would keep 18-hole golf course while rest are a mix of pumping and park-use options

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
Of the five scenarios being evaluated for the Hiawatha Golf Course, only one would leave the golf course open. The other four would reduce the amount of pumping or not pump water off the land at all, and the site would be set aside for other park uses.
Currently, the golf course is open because 308 million gallons of water are being pumped into the lake and then seeped back onto the course in a repeating pattern.
No pumping would not only close the golf course but also potentially flood the basements of between 9-14 nearby homes. Reduced pumping options would affect up to 4 homes. (See at top of page for detailed information on scenarios.)
The Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board (MPRB) intends to select a preferred scenario to pursue by July.
At an Apr. 20 community meeting, residents viewed diagrams which illustrated the spaces created by the varying levels of groundwater pumping, and how these layouts may affect certain uses within the park in the future. The majority of this meeting focused on developing ideas for potential uses within the park. (Check the June Messenger for an article on the April meeting, which just missed our publication deadline.)
Photo left: At a Mar. 20 community meeting, attendees were asked to share their opinion on how the golf course land should be used moving forward by placing stickers on a diamond configuration. The graphic measures how many people support active versus passive use at the golf course property and nature-inspired design versus natural systems. (Photo submitted by MPRB)
\One scenario stops trash from ‘choking lake’
Only one of the proposed scenarios would effectively stop trash from “choking the lake,” according to Standish-Ericsson resident Sean Connaughty, who has removed 3,400 pounds of trash from Lake Hiawatha in the last year.
He pointed out that despite his efforts and those of other volunteers, trash remains in the lake and on its shores. “It comes from our streets,” he said.
While 90 participants have adopted 170 drains in the Lake Hiawatha watershed, Connaughty is pushing the city and MPRB to change how the storm sewer drains discharge directly into Lake Hiawatha.
“The most effective way to stop the trash and pollutants from reaching the lake is to create a catchment pond or ‘open channel’ in the line of the big north storm sewer pipe,” Connaughty said.
The big north pipe that currently runs into the lake would be diverted into an open water area outside the lake where trash and pollutants could be isolated and removed before they reach the lake. “I imagine the catchment pond or open channel would be surrounded by wetland that could help absorb and consume other pollutants before they reach the lake,” explained Connaughty.
MPRB is also considering a ‘gravity connection,’ so rather than pumping stormwater it would be allowed to flow naturally with gravity to the lake through wetlands.
“In this time of disappearing protections for our waters, something great could happen right here that would mean dramatic improvement for water quality and habitat preservation. But they (Parks) need to know this is what we want,” Connaughty said.
Moving forward
As the MPRB moves forward, it will factor in social, environmental and economic considerations to chart the future course of the site. Staff is working to identify ecological impacts, recreational impacts, economic impacts, and transportation/traffic impacts, as well as environmental regulations. Plus a review of cultural resources is being completed.
Next, Use Envision™ will be used to generate a sustainability score rating for each alternative considering, e.g., energy consumed and carbon dioxide produced, impacts on community health, and well-being
AutoCASE will help quantify costs and benefits of areas such as water quality, flood risks, recreational value, healthy and safety, and air quality.
As pumping alternatives are evaluated, the impacts to water quality and opportunities to reduce trash in stormwater are also being considered.
Resident opinions
Residents have a variety of opinions on the golf course property, and some wrote their thoughts down for the Park Board following the Mar. 20 community meeting.
One commenter pointed out that there are plenty of passive use and natural areas in South Minneapolis for residents to enjoy, including the Minnehaha Falls area. “Hiawatha Golf Course is the only one set in the heart of the city, and it is a gem,” the commenter wrote, adding that “golf is communing with nature while being a fun activity.”
Some residents continue to push for pesticide and chemical testing at the course arguing that the samples taken once in January of 2016 could not provide a full picture of what’s happening there.
Roxanne Stuhr of Friends of Lake Hiawatha asked that multiple sites be tested at multiple times of the year, not just when the ground is frozen.
“Identifying the chemicals and sharing them publicly will help to determine future uses,” Stuhr said.
Another commenter asked that alternatives to chemical herbicides and pesticides be used at the site, and that buffer zones be created for the bodies of water there. “Please create an effective mitigation system to capture and divert trash and pollutants to keep them out of the lake,” wrote the resident, who also pushed for a land use that would limit foot traffic and protect habitat and ecosystems.
“As a Minneapolis residents, I am interested in seeing progressive alternatives to maintaining park lands,” said Anna Seewald. “If supporting a golf course is unsustainable in light of the current environmental conditions then I feel that it’s time to move away from that and to use the land in a way that makes sense for the community while considering a sustainable way to maintain the land.”
Seewald supports the idea of a food forest and light recreation on the property. “However, I do not support the current amount of pumping to maintain the golf course.”
MPRB considers food forest
Earlier in March, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) sent out a press release stressing that Food Forest concept is a proposed idea from an organized group of residents, and is separate from the approved Nokomis-Hiawatha Regional Park Master Plan.
“Urban agriculture was not identified as a priority during the recently completed year-and-a-half master planning process for the Nokomis-Hiawatha Regional Park, and the final, approved plan did not include any agricultural zones within the Hiawatha Park,” pointed out MPRB representatives. “The prevailing sentiment among the Community Advisory Committee and public commentary was that the park should have more naturalization and habitat for wildlife.
“Hiawatha Park could be a place for a planned orchard and urban agriculture zone, but it would be disrespectful to all the people who worked on the current master plan to move forward with an amendment without additional engagement. It would also be out of line with MPRB’s dedication to broad and meaningful community engagement.”
MPRB is currently considering two amendments to the Nokomis-Hiawatha Regional Park Master Plan:
1) Consideration on of a recommended design concept for the Nokomis Athletic field
2) The inclusion of a designated urban agriculture area along the east side of Lake Hiawatha
These items will be discussed during an open house on Thur., May 25. See the MPRB project page for more details as they are available.

Article appeared in the April 2017 Longfellow Nokomis Messenger.