Minneapolis to Offer Remote School For Next 5 Weeks After ICE Shooting: Official

Minneapolis will allow students to attend school remotely for more than a month in the wake of the shooting in the city of a woman by a federal officer, a teacher’s union official said Jan. 8.

Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) “is going to be offering an option for students to learn from home until February 12,” Marcia Howard, president of the Minneapolis Federation of Educators, wrote on Facebook. “This is an OPTION and exactly what so many families need right now.”

Howard said that the teachers union proposed the remote-learning option to MPS, and school officials approved the proposal.

“Let’s stay strong together,” Howard said.

Howard and MPS did not respond to requests for more information by publication time.

In a Jan. 8 briefing, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz also said that the state may consider adding days of remote learning, along with other possible measures aimed at reducing risk to students.

“We have not determined that yet, but it is a situation that we’re going to have to explore,” he said.

Walz said the state’s education commissioner was speaking with officials about whether classes should be held this week.

Officials in Columbia Heights Public Schools and Fridley Public Schools said they were shifting to remote learning on Friday. Columbia Heights officials said the shift was “out of an abundance of caution.”

MPS canceled classes on Thursday and Friday. On its website, the district attributed the move to “safety concerns related to today’s incidents around the city.”

MPS said in a statement that it would not be shifting to remote classes during the two days “because that is only allowable for severe weather.”

“When school is not in session, kids 18 and under can visit participating community sites for no-cost healthy meals and snacks from Minneapolis Public Schools,” it stated. “Children do not need to attend MPS to participate.”

MPS has around 29,000 students.

The developments occurred after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer on Jan. 7 fatally shot a woman in her vehicle who was driving toward him.

Officials said the shooting was justified because the woman, identified as Renee Nicole Good, was trying to run over and kill law enforcement officers.

Good was at the scene as a “professional agitator,” President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have said.

Good’s mother told The Minnesota Star Tribune that she was not part of the protests against ICE.

“Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known,” she said. “She was extremely compassionate. She’s taken care of people all her life. She was loving, forgiving and affectionate. She was an amazing human being.”

The Minneapolis Federation of Educators said on Facebook that officers “murdered a Minneapolis neighbor” and condemned federal agencies for carrying out operations to find illegal immigrants and deport them.

“We are grieving with the entirety of the Minneapolis community as we process this latest atrocity and send our deepest condolences to the victim, Renee Good, and her family,” the union said.

Catina Taylor, a union official, said during a press conference on Friday that ICE should exit Minnesota.

“School should be a safe place for students and educators to learn and work,” she said. “As long as ICE is in Minnesota, we won’t be safe.”