Big Pathway Changes In Store For Southwest Middle Schools

Earlier this week, the Minneapolis School District quietly posted a proposal to deal with 's . Officials want to move the program across town to the currently empty Folwell Middle School building, closed in 2009 to save the district money on busing.

The district is suggesting splitting the Ramsey building in two, creating space for 600 students for a middle school fed by Lyndale and . This will take pressure off of Anthony, the district says, and make space at Anthony for sixth- through eighth-graders now at Uptown's Jefferson Community School. This would open several hundred extra seats to deal projected large increases in the school's enrollment.

The plan will be presented to Southwest parents at 6:30 p.m. today at .

Known Knowns

• Anthony Middle School can take a maximum of 768 students, . The changes have to keep the school's enrollment under that.
• Burroughs is projected to see a declining number of elementary-aged kids within its enrollment area, while Kenny, Kenwood, and Jefferson schools are projected to see substantial increases in enrollment.
• High school pathways based on your address will stay the same.

Known Unknowns

• Ramsey currently has 957 students, but the district proposal says the Folwell building has space for only 900. How will the district handle this?
• Current enrollment numbers for Southwest's schools aren't due out until the start of next week. This makes it difficult to estimate the numbers of students who'll arrive at Anthony's doorstep in Fall 2012. Instead, the estimate will come from the district's 2010 enrollment statistics.