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Minneapolis school board approves superintendent contract with Lisa Sayles-Adams

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Minneapolis Public Schools officially has a new superintendent who will start in February and help lead the process to transform the district.

School board members on Tuesday approved two contracts with Lisa Sayles-Adams and passed a resolution to kick off a “school transformation process,” which could include closing or consolidating schools.

Sayles-Adams, now superintendent of Eastern Carver County schools, will start her Minneapolis job on Feb. 5 and get paid $107,000 to serve in the role until the end of June. On July 1, her three-year contract will begin with a $266,000 salary. She’ll also receive a $600 monthly allowance for using her personal vehicle for work. Her salary for year three is set at $276,000.

The board voted 8-1 to approve her contract, less than two weeks after members selected Sayles-Adams as the finalist for the job and agreed they wanted to offer her a “regionally competitive” salary.

“It is going to be our responsibility to work with and provide support to Dr. Sayles Adams,” Chair Sharon El-Amin said to the board. “We totally plan to support and make this transition as smooth as possible.”

Interim superintendent Rochelle Cox and Ed Graff, the district’s most recent permanent superintendent, both earned $230,000 a year — about 15% less than what Sayles-Adams will receive in the first year of her three-year contract. Cox’s interim superintendent contract will expire Feb. 4, and she’ll be offered a contract as an associate superintendent, which was her previous role, said El-Amin.

The superintendent of St. Paul Public Schools is set to receive a $261,120 salary next school year and $266,342 the following year, according to his contract. The superintendent of the Anoka-Hennepin school district earned $270,000 in his first year on the job.

Board Member Ira Jourdain voted against the contract, citing concerns about the rise in salary and offering yearly salary increases “regardless of job performance.”

Discussing the superintendent’s salary at a meeting earlier this month, Board Member Joyner Emerickasked how the salaries for the district’s teachers and support staff compare to surrounding districts. The district is in ongoing negotiations with the union representing Minneapolis teachers and support staff.

Greta Callahan, the president of the teachers chapter of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, said the boost in salary for the district’s superintendent proves the board sees the value in the position.

“It’s time for them to see the value in ours,” Callahan said, adding that she hopes the union can reach contract agreements before Sayles-Adams starts in February.

The state’s fourth-largest school district faces several challenges, including a looming financial crisis, and Sayles-Adams and other district leaders will face tough decisions about whether to close schools amid declining enrollment.

According to the school transformation resolution, approved Tuesday, a transformed district would be “fiscally and operationally sustainable with resources invested for the greatest direct benefit of students,” which may require schools to be repurposed, consolidated or closed.

To begin the process, the district will conduct a physical space study to look at school building capacity.

Board members repeatedly thanked interim superintendent Rochelle Cox for her leadership over the last 16 months.

“I don’t know how she works as much and as hard as she does,” Emerick said. “She goes where our children need her to go, and that will be the expectation of our new superintendent.”



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Klobuchar criticizes White for saying ‘bad guys won in World War II’

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The only debate between DFL U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and GOP challenger Royce White started Sunday on the street outside WCCO Radio.

As White approached the building, he loudly called some two dozen flag-waving and cheering Klobuchar supporters a “whole lot of commies.” The 33-year-old provocateur and podcaster also told them to thank Republican former Vice President Dick Cheney — who endorsed Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris — because there was “no chance in hell” that Harris would defeat Republican former President Donald Trump on Nov. 5.

Klobuchar, 64, had arrived moments earlier, smiling and wishing “good morning” to her supporters. Once inside, the two took questions for an hour from moderator Blois Olson. Their tone was generally polite with White often interrupting a Klobuchar response with, “rebuttal,” indicated he wanted to respond.

The senator repeatedly raised White’s claims on X, formerly Twitter, that “The bad guys won in World War II” and that there were “no good guys in that war.” She called that stance offensive to veterans.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar arrives at WCCO Radio for a debate with Royce White in Minneapolis on Sunday, Oct. 27. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii)

Klobuchar, who is seeking a fourth six-year term, portrayed herself as a pragmatist. She opened by saying that we live in “incredibly divisive times politically” but that she has listened and worked with Republicans to bring down shipping costs, drug prices for seniors and to help veterans and push for more housing and child care.

“Courage in this next few years is not going to be standing by yourself yelling at people,” she said, her opening allusion to White’s rhetoric, which she said is often vulgar.

White, a former NBA player, is a political novice, but a close ally of Steve Bannon, the jailed former chief strategist for Trump and right wing media executive. Last summer, White won the state GOP endorsement to run against Klobuchar.

“Our country’s coming undone at the seams. I think we can change that,” White said in his opening statement. He said he threatens the status quo, decried the “permanent political class” and referred to the two major parties as the “uniparty.”



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Satellite images show damage from Israeli attack at 2 secretive Iranian military bases

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Other buildings destroyed at Khojir and Parchin likely included buildings where Iran used industrial mixers to create the solid fuel needed for its extensive ballistic missile arsenal, Eveleth said.

In a statement issued immediately after the attack Saturday, the Israeli military said it targeted ”missile manufacturing facilities used to produce the missiles that Iran fired at the state of Israel over the last year.”

Destroying such sites could greatly disrupt Iran’s ability to manufacture new ballistic missiles to replenish its arsenal after the two attacks on Israel. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which oversees the country’s ballistic missile program, has been silent since Saturday’s attack.

Iran’s overall ballistic missile arsenal, which includes shorter-range missiles unable to reach Israel, was estimated to be ”over 3,000” by Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, then-commander of the U.S. military’s Central Command, in testimony to the U.S. Senate in 2022. In the time since, Iran has fired hundreds of the missiles in a series of attacks.

There have been no videos or photos posted to social media of missile parts or damage in civilian neighborhoods following the recent attack — suggesting that the Israeli strikes were far more accurate that Iran’s ballistic missile barrages targeting Israel in April and October. Israel relied on aircraft-fired missiles during its attack.

However, one factory appeared to have been hit in Shamsabad Industrial City, just south of Tehran near Imam Khomeini International Airport, the country’s main gateway to the outside world. Online videos of the damaged building corresponded to an address for a firm known as TIECO, which advertises itself as building advanced machinery used in Iran’s oil and gas industry.



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This Rochester MN school police officer used to be a narcotics cop

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Some take him up on it and fret when he’s not around.

“It is nice to be missed and be part of the school’s culture,” Arzola said. But mostly, he added, he wants kids to know that police aren’t around just for when the bad stuff happens. He’ll hand out his stickers and bracelets, even a trading card bearing his image. Then, they’ll talk about dogs and family.

School resource officer Al Arzola talks to students in his office at John Adams Middle School in Rochester on Oct. 11. (Leila Navidi/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Two months ago, Rochester played host to a three-day training session for new SROs from across the state — an event organized by the Minnesota School Safety Center. On the final day, the 26 officers learned about surveillance challenges at the other school where Arzola works: Dakota Middle School.

It is a beautiful building with a scenic view. There is a lot of glass, too. Arzola, handling the role of instructor and tour guide, took the group outside and noted how one could look straight through the entrance to the large groups that gather inside. There were no curbs in front, either.

“There is nothing stopping any vehicle whatsoever from going through my front doors,” Arzola told the officers. “Law enforcement wasn’t talked to before this building was made. It was kind of like, ‘Here it is. You’re the SRO. Do what you do.’”

He showed them his office, too, which is separate from the main office and near those of other school support staff members. That makes sense, said Jenny Larrive, SRO coordinator for the Minnesota School Safety Center, given than SROs spend more time connecting with youth than on actual law enforcement.



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