Minneapolis Public School system to vote on terminating contract with city’s police department

The Minneapolis Public Schools system plans to vote next week on whether to terminate its contract with the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) amid unrest over the police-involved death of George Floyd.

Minneapolis Public Schools’s (MPS) board director Josh Pauly tweeted Friday that he had drafted a resolution to terminate the district’s contract with the department to send “a very clear message.”

A spokesperson for Minneapolis Public Schools told The Hill on Friday afternoon that the board will vote next week on terminating the contract.

“The contract is not yet terminated. The Board has submitted a resolution to do so that will be voted on next Tuesday,” the spokesperson said.

The move comes amid ongoing demonstrations in the city after the death of Floyd, an unarmed black man, in police custody earlier this week.

“I wrote a resolution Tuesday with the support of Chair [Kim Ellison] & Director [Siad Ali] to (1) terminate our contract with MPD, (2) cease future negotiations with MPD, (3) and direct the Superintendent & his staff to devise an alternative plan to better serve our students,” Pauly said on social media.

Pauly followed his announcement with a tweet saying the resolution would be presented before the full board on June 2, adding that “MPS cannot align itself with MPD and claim to fight institutional racism.”

Siad Ali, director of the Minneapolis Board of Education and co-sponsor of the resolution, echoed Pauly’s announcement Friday in a separate tweet.

Floyd died on Monday after a white police officer knelt on his neck while Floyd repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe. The officer has since been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.

“Our communities are in pain, and our city is on fire as a result of MPD’s blatant disregard for black lives. The people of our city are demanding justice,” Pauly tweeted before his announcement, adding, “we do have the ability to send MPD a very clear message – not only through public statements – but through action.”

Our communities are in pain and our city is on fire as a result of MPDs blatant disregard for black lives. The people of our city are demanding justice.

— Josh Pauly (@JoshPauly) May 29, 2020

CORRECTION: This story was updated at 5:45 p.m. to reflect that the school board has not yet voted on the resolution to terminate the contract with the police department and will vote next week.