Northrop School to go private?

BY ED FELIEN

Now it looks like Northrop School could become a private charter school.

Hiawatha Leadership Academies has bid $1 million for the property. It would be its third charter school. Its original school, Hiawatha Leadership Academy, was founded in 2007 and currently serves grades K-4. It is located at 3810 E. 56th St. Its second school, Adelante College Prep at 3800 Pleasant, currently serves children in 5th and 6th grades. The middle school will add a grade level every year to eventually serve grades 5-8.

A second bid of $1.2 million is from United Properties. As we reported in January, “The Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) system is trying to sell Northrop School again. The school at 1611 E. 46th St. opened in 1923 and closed in 2005. At one point United Properties was planning on buying the property, tearing down the school and building 106 cooperative housing units for seniors, but a weakened housing market destroyed those plans. The city says the market value of the building is $782,400, and the land is worth $1,708,100 for a total of $2,490,500.” Now it seems United Properties is planning on leaving the school standing and letting Arch Academy operate a charter school there and building senior cooperative housing on the rest of the block.

Two School Board members have had to recuse themselves from voting on the proposals because of conflicts of interest. Board Chair Alberto Monserrate was formerly the chair of the board of Hiawatha Leadership Academy, and Board Member Josh Reimnitz’s girlfriend, Daniela Vasan, is in line to be the principal of the new charter school at the Northrop site if Hiawatha wins the bid.

If United Properties wins the bid, then Angela Mansfield would probably be the principal. She and Daniela were in the same Charter School Partners fellowship program that was run by Katie Barrett Kramer, the sister-in-law of Eli Kramer, the executive director of Hiawatha.

Steve Brandt described the interrelationships and confusing entanglements in an article in the Star Tribune on Feb. 20. His final comment, a witty understatement: “Small world.”