Note: This article is a part of the Southerner’s special edition coverage of South’s 2024 budget cuts.
After the Minneapolis Public School Board released its projected budget for the 2024-2025 school year, South High had a budget exodus, with drastic numbers of teachers and staff being cut this fall. In the aftermath of the news, South High was grimly reckoning with what the staff cuts would mean for the school, its students, and newly laid off staff members.
For Naihomi Reyes, South is not just a workplace, but a real community. The beloved English teacher has built undeniably strong connections with students and fellow staff. Her classroom is seen as a refuge to many students, and her presence a warm welcome.
On March 13th Reyes was called into principal Runsewe’s office without warning, and was given the news that her position would be terminated for the upcoming school year as a part of Souths rampant budget cuts. “It was like a revolving door of people getting cut. Somebody was coming out as I was going in.” During this meeting, principal Runsewe told Reyes that she would not be returning to South next year. “[Admin] sat me down to give me the spiel, and I said, ‘I know what this is’… It was devastating. I went home and I cried, it feels like I’m still in shock.”
Before she was given the news of her termination, she had no previous plans of leaving. “I bought a house down the road from South so I could walk to work until I died.” She worries about what this is going to mean for her future. Her struggle is not only finding another school to teach at, but another community that meets her fervent values. “What am I supposed to do next year? Am I supposed to live in limbo and hope that something changes?…I don’t want to go to another school, I don’t even want to think about it. This is my neighborhood, my community. [When I moved here with my wife], we made a commitment to live in a place that reflects what we believe, and what we believe in is this community. You’re not just taking my job, you’re taking my community.”
Many staff and students, including Reyes, said that these cuts were handled poorly. Due to the prolonged lack of transparency over the South budget, and the manner in which the layoffs were handled, staff say they felt blindsided by the sudden layoffs. Reyes says “Nobody was expecting to see five full time teachers cut [from each department]. That’s a deep, gouging cut…If this is the way it had to be then I would have preferred a human conversation, because this is too personal a job for somebody to relay this information so impersonally. I don’t need you to hold my hand, but I need the dignity of [admin] understanding of what it means to be cut [in this way.]”
Reyes isn’t sure what South is going to look like next year. “Of course I have hope for South, but if I’m thinking about South on the path that it’s currently on, it’s a very cautious, tired hope.”
South is known for its steadfast and invaluable community, which with budget cuts is going to face strain and uncertainty. A staff member, who asked to remain anonymous, says that they worry about students next year more than anything.
This staff member is immensely invested in the student body at South, and like many other teachers and staff, worries about what these budget cuts are going to look like for students. “I always worry about [students slipping through the cracks]. There are real consequences to all of this, and I wish the district could see how our kids are reacting to this… having a community split up is just so damaging.” They specifically worry about how certain students are represented at South with so many of the LGBTQ and BIPOC teachers being cut, “It makes me nervous when we don’t have teachers who reflect the identities of the people we have at South…[Losing] teachers of color in a school where a majority of the kids are kids of color is nothing short of a tragedy.”
They say they’re going to miss being at South, and wish only the best for South students. “It’s been an honor.”
Students are going to have a very different experience at South next year with so few staff and the subsequent rising class sizes. Junior Addie Blythe, reflecting on the relationships she’s built with the staff over the past three years said, “I feel like it’s going to be a skeleton of what it used to be, it won’t be the same at all.” Blythe has a clear appreciation for the South staff who have helped them throughout their time at South, dealing with the challenges that high school brings. She feels a lot of gratitude for specific teachers, including Mrs Reyes, for their commitment to making students feel seen. “I tell them everything, my successes, my disappointments and struggles. They know so much about me and my life…it’s hard to imagine going to school without them. There isn’t really a point for me to be in the building very much next year if they won’t be there.”
The type of support and community that Blythe has found at South is exactly what makes South critical to the success of so many Minneapolis youth. Gouging budget cuts directly put this at risk for students to come. “It’s possible to rebuild, but it’s hard to form a community when you are shown that it won’t be permanent.” The teachers who were terminated offered more than just the curriculum they taught. For many like Blythe, they were also role models, therapists, and friends. The alienation some students will feel losing their favorite teacher(s) will be immeasurable.
