Some Twin Cities School Districts Are Booming While Others Shrink: See The List

residential boom in Blaine and Dayton

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Minneapolis Public Schools has stepped back from closing schools, but the shrinking enrollment that put closures on the table hasn't gone away. And across the Twin Cities, the map of where families with school-age kids live is shifting fast.

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The Minneapolis School Board voted unanimously Tuesday night to drop plans to close or consolidate schools next fall, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.

The vote cancels a planned Nov. 10 decision on a proposal that could have shut as many as 16 buildings. Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams recommended the pause after weeks of pushback from parents and teachers.

The district still has roughly 30,000 students in buildings with room for about 43,000, and more than half of its 56 schools are below 70 percent capacity.

Several suburban districts are dealing with the opposite problem.

Where The Kids Are Going

In January 2025, Minnesota State Demographer Susan Brower presented lawmakers with data showing which school districts gained and lost the most school-age residents, ages 5 to 17, between 2020 and 2023.

Wayzata led the entire state, adding 2,586 school-age kids, a 20.5 percent jump in three years.

Several other Twin Cities-area districts also ranked among Minnesota's biggest gainers.

Twin Cities-area districts with the largest gains in school-age residents, 2020 to 2023:

• Wayzata: +2,586 (20.5 percent)
• Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan: +1,894 (6.4 percent)
• South Washington County: +1,777 (8.6 percent)
• Anoka-Hennepin: +1,693 (3.8 percent)
• Elk River: +1,690 (11.2 percent)
• Mounds View: +972 (7.9 percent)
• Spring Lake Park: +949 (18.1 percent)
• Osseo: +794 (2.9 percent)
• Lakeville: +685 (5.4 percent)
• Prior Lake-Savage: +656 (7.3 percent)
• Columbia Heights: +602 (16 percent)

Twin Cities-area districts with the largest losses:

• St. Paul: -1,470 (-2.7 percent)
• Eden Prairie: -1,218 (-10.1 percent)
• Robbinsdale: -852 (-5.3 percent)
• White Bear Lake: -620 (-5.7 percent)
• Minnetonka: -602 (-6.6 percent)
• Inver Grove Heights: -399 (-8.3 percent)
• Hastings: -393 (-6.8 percent)
• Hopkins: -341 (-3.7 percent)
• St. Francis: -311 (-4.8 percent)
• Burnsville: -234 (-2 percent)
• New Prague: -202 (-4.6 percent)

The figures count children living within each district's boundaries, not students enrolled in its schools, and the state noted that some of the change reflects district boundary adjustments rather than families moving in or out.

At the county level, Hennepin County lost 2,001 school-age kids in 2023 alone, the largest drop in the state, while Ramsey County lost 1,049. Anoka County posted the state's largest gain, adding 309.

New Housing, New Schools

The fastest growth is tied to new housing on the edges of the metro.

In Waconia, enrollment has roughly doubled over about 15 years, climbing from about 1,800 students to about 4,000, according to the Metropolitan Council. The growth pushed the district to build a new high school.

Anoka-Hennepin, the state's largest district, has seen a residential boom in Blaine and Dayton, Superintendent Cory McIntyre told KSTP.

The district built two new schools and redrew boundaries for 20 schools a few years ago. Districtwide, though, its Oct. 1, 2025 count showed 12 fewer K-12 students than the year before, according to a district enrollment report.

Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan reported 29,049 students in fall 2024, a number the district described as stable. District officials credited new home construction and families moving in for holding enrollment steady while falling birth rates squeeze other districts.