North Minneapolis charter school's eviction reveals gaps in state law
Most schools in Minnesota start in just two weeks. But until Friday, students at JJ Legacy School didn't know where they'd be reporting to class.
The school was evicted from its former home, Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church in North Minneapolis, after a messy battle over building repairs.
Becky Dernbach is a reporter with Sahan Journal who has been following the story and she joined MPR News guest host Emily Bright to get us up to speed.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
EMILY BRIGHT: Well, we're going to continue our back to school focus. The start of school is coming. In Albert Lea, as you heard, it's already here. But until last Friday, students at JJ Legacy School didn't know where they'd be reporting to class. The school was evicted from its former home, Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church in North Minneapolis, after a messy battle over building repairs.
Becky Dernbach is a reporter with Sahan Journal, who has been following this story. And she's here to get us up to speed. Thanks for being here, Becky.
BECKY DERNBACH: Thanks for having me.
EMILY BRIGHT: So let's back up a bit. Tell us more about JJ Legacy.
BECKY DERNBACH: Sure. So JJ Legacy is a charter school in North Minneapolis. It's pretty small. It has about 110 kids in prekindergarten through sixth grade. About 70% of the students are Black, and they use a Montessori model. And students and parents say it's really culturally affirming to their kids, and they sing the praises of their teachers.
EMILY BRIGHT: So the school stopped paying rent for a year over maintenance issues, right? Give us a picture of how bad the problem was.
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah. So school leaders tell me that there were some issues when they moved in, but they really built up over time. There were classrooms and entryways where the ceiling was collapsing due to water damage. There were issues with mold and mildew that made them close classrooms and destroyed some of their materials. Most of the school bathrooms became unusable. So by last year, there was just one for boys and one for girls. And the elevator didn't work for years. So they had to turn away some students with certain disabilities.
EMILY BRIGHT: It sounds like a really difficult learning environment. How did the church respond to allegations?
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah. So the church didn't respond to any of those specific issues that I asked them about. It did acknowledge some maintenance issues at the school. It said it had fixed some, but it didn't tell me what it fixed. But the church also said there were misunderstandings about who was responsible for what repairs.
EMILY BRIGHT: So the school was saying the repairs were the church's responsibility. The church was saying they were the school's responsibility. Is that the idea?
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah. Yes. That's the idea. And so the way the lease is written, I mean, this is pretty common for commercial leases. The church, the landlord is responsible for structural repairs, like the roof, and the school was responsible for more routine repairs like basic plumbing. So sort of depends which repair you're talking about, who's responsible for what. But the school wanted the church to commit to more repairs in the lease. And so they didn't want to sign a lease renewal that didn't have those commitments to make some of these repairs.
EMILY BRIGHT: Do we know who is actually in the wrong? Is that a fruitful question or not?
BECKY DERNBACH: I think that it sort of depends which which repair you're talking about. I think that if you read the lease, it says the church is responsible for the roof. There were issues with the roof. There are some other issues that aren't spelled out as specifically. But it's sort of-- yeah. I mean, it depends on which repair you're talking about, but it's also sort of a question of--
The school wanted to change their lease, and they didn't really have a lot of power to do that without getting a lawyer involved and getting a lawyer involved early. And they just were sort of stuck in a situation where they weren't able to make changes to their lease.
EMILY BRIGHT: So here's the thing that strikes me about this, Becky. So it's hard to imagine a public school continuing to operate with collapsing ceilings, for example. Why didn't the state agencies step in?
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah. So we don't really have a process set up for charter school inspections. Like if you think about renting an apartment where ceilings are collapsing, it's easy to think about maybe how to get your landlord to make those repairs or how to call in authorities to inspect it if there are repairs needed.
But it works very differently for commercial leases. For residential leases, landlords are responsible for making most repairs. And that's just not the case in commercial leases. It varies from one lease to the next. And if something is unclear, a jury might have to decide if it ever goes to court.
So we don't really have a process set up for charter school inspections. They have to certify to the state that they're meeting federal, state, and local requirements. But that means in Minneapolis, they have to get a fire inspection. They have to get a kitchen inspection. For state requirements, they have to do things like test for lead in the water. And they have to have a process for asbestos management. But there's not really anybody to call if something isn't on that checklist. And yeah. I mean, there's no there's no equivalent of a housing inspector to call for violations.
EMILY BRIGHT: Well, what about the organization operating the charter school? They're in charge of what, something like 30 other schools. Wouldn't this fall under their rule?
BECKY DERNBACH: So the organization you're talking about. So just to back up a little bit. In Minnesota, there are nonprofits that are in charge of overseeing charter schools, and those are called authorizers. So the school's authorizer is Osprey Wilds Environmental Learning Center. But the authorizers don't actually operate the school. They are monitoring the school's performance on academic, financial, operational, and student performance measures.
They can require the school to fix certain things if they're out of compliance, and they're in charge of deciding whether to renew the school's contract every few years. They could ultimately decide to close the school. But they can't step in to make changes at the school. Our charter school law is really designed to give charter schools autonomy. And one of the authorizer's responsibilities is to make sure that the school has autonomy. So when schools are making decisions about how to navigate a situation like that, an authorizer can't step in and do anything about it really.
EMILY BRIGHT: Huh. Yeah. I was surprised to read in your reporting that charter schools in Minnesota actually can't own property. They're essentially always beholden to a landlord. Why is the system set up that way?
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah. So legislators didn't want charter schools to become real estate deals for the people running the schools. And there's also an issue where a third of all charter schools that have ever opened in Minnesota have eventually closed. So they don't want taxpayers purchasing a bunch of buildings for schools that close and then being on the hook for those buildings.
There is a loophole to that, which is that some charter schools can start affiliated building corporations, which can own property. But you have to meet certain criteria to be able to do that. So some charter schools are renting from companies that they started, but they're still renting. And charter school advocates say that's a really inefficient system.
EMILY BRIGHT: Yeah. That's really interesting to me. So back to JJ Legacy, as you've been following their story. What happens next?
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah. So they signed a lease on Friday and sent out a notice to parents. They are going to be at the Family Baptist Church, which is, it's also in North Minneapolis. It's a different area of North Minneapolis. They were almost at the Brooklyn Center border. Now they'll be closer to West Broadway at 22nd and Girard. So they are waiting for the company to come move their stuff from one building to the next. And then they'll have to move in, and school starts for kindergarten on September 5th and for first through sixth grade students the next day.
EMILY BRIGHT: Well, I'm sure that teachers are just antsy to get their classrooms set up, and parents are trying to figure out transportation now, huh?
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah. I think that they are glad to finally have a space and to start making some of these plans.
EMILY BRIGHT: Well, Becky, thank you for your time and your reporting.
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah. Thanks for having me.
EMILY BRIGHT: Becky Dernbach is an education reporter with Sahan Journal. It's an online news source covering BIPOC and refugee communities across Minnesota. You can go to sahanjournal.com to read that story and others.
Becky Dernbach is a reporter with Sahan Journal, who has been following this story. And she's here to get us up to speed. Thanks for being here, Becky.
BECKY DERNBACH: Thanks for having me.
EMILY BRIGHT: So let's back up a bit. Tell us more about JJ Legacy.
BECKY DERNBACH: Sure. So JJ Legacy is a charter school in North Minneapolis. It's pretty small. It has about 110 kids in prekindergarten through sixth grade. About 70% of the students are Black, and they use a Montessori model. And students and parents say it's really culturally affirming to their kids, and they sing the praises of their teachers.
EMILY BRIGHT: So the school stopped paying rent for a year over maintenance issues, right? Give us a picture of how bad the problem was.
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah. So school leaders tell me that there were some issues when they moved in, but they really built up over time. There were classrooms and entryways where the ceiling was collapsing due to water damage. There were issues with mold and mildew that made them close classrooms and destroyed some of their materials. Most of the school bathrooms became unusable. So by last year, there was just one for boys and one for girls. And the elevator didn't work for years. So they had to turn away some students with certain disabilities.
EMILY BRIGHT: It sounds like a really difficult learning environment. How did the church respond to allegations?
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah. So the church didn't respond to any of those specific issues that I asked them about. It did acknowledge some maintenance issues at the school. It said it had fixed some, but it didn't tell me what it fixed. But the church also said there were misunderstandings about who was responsible for what repairs.
EMILY BRIGHT: So the school was saying the repairs were the church's responsibility. The church was saying they were the school's responsibility. Is that the idea?
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah. Yes. That's the idea. And so the way the lease is written, I mean, this is pretty common for commercial leases. The church, the landlord is responsible for structural repairs, like the roof, and the school was responsible for more routine repairs like basic plumbing. So sort of depends which repair you're talking about, who's responsible for what. But the school wanted the church to commit to more repairs in the lease. And so they didn't want to sign a lease renewal that didn't have those commitments to make some of these repairs.
EMILY BRIGHT: Do we know who is actually in the wrong? Is that a fruitful question or not?
BECKY DERNBACH: I think that it sort of depends which which repair you're talking about. I think that if you read the lease, it says the church is responsible for the roof. There were issues with the roof. There are some other issues that aren't spelled out as specifically. But it's sort of-- yeah. I mean, it depends on which repair you're talking about, but it's also sort of a question of--
The school wanted to change their lease, and they didn't really have a lot of power to do that without getting a lawyer involved and getting a lawyer involved early. And they just were sort of stuck in a situation where they weren't able to make changes to their lease.
EMILY BRIGHT: So here's the thing that strikes me about this, Becky. So it's hard to imagine a public school continuing to operate with collapsing ceilings, for example. Why didn't the state agencies step in?
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah. So we don't really have a process set up for charter school inspections. Like if you think about renting an apartment where ceilings are collapsing, it's easy to think about maybe how to get your landlord to make those repairs or how to call in authorities to inspect it if there are repairs needed.
But it works very differently for commercial leases. For residential leases, landlords are responsible for making most repairs. And that's just not the case in commercial leases. It varies from one lease to the next. And if something is unclear, a jury might have to decide if it ever goes to court.
So we don't really have a process set up for charter school inspections. They have to certify to the state that they're meeting federal, state, and local requirements. But that means in Minneapolis, they have to get a fire inspection. They have to get a kitchen inspection. For state requirements, they have to do things like test for lead in the water. And they have to have a process for asbestos management. But there's not really anybody to call if something isn't on that checklist. And yeah. I mean, there's no there's no equivalent of a housing inspector to call for violations.
EMILY BRIGHT: Well, what about the organization operating the charter school? They're in charge of what, something like 30 other schools. Wouldn't this fall under their rule?
BECKY DERNBACH: So the organization you're talking about. So just to back up a little bit. In Minnesota, there are nonprofits that are in charge of overseeing charter schools, and those are called authorizers. So the school's authorizer is Osprey Wilds Environmental Learning Center. But the authorizers don't actually operate the school. They are monitoring the school's performance on academic, financial, operational, and student performance measures.
They can require the school to fix certain things if they're out of compliance, and they're in charge of deciding whether to renew the school's contract every few years. They could ultimately decide to close the school. But they can't step in to make changes at the school. Our charter school law is really designed to give charter schools autonomy. And one of the authorizer's responsibilities is to make sure that the school has autonomy. So when schools are making decisions about how to navigate a situation like that, an authorizer can't step in and do anything about it really.
EMILY BRIGHT: Huh. Yeah. I was surprised to read in your reporting that charter schools in Minnesota actually can't own property. They're essentially always beholden to a landlord. Why is the system set up that way?
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah. So legislators didn't want charter schools to become real estate deals for the people running the schools. And there's also an issue where a third of all charter schools that have ever opened in Minnesota have eventually closed. So they don't want taxpayers purchasing a bunch of buildings for schools that close and then being on the hook for those buildings.
There is a loophole to that, which is that some charter schools can start affiliated building corporations, which can own property. But you have to meet certain criteria to be able to do that. So some charter schools are renting from companies that they started, but they're still renting. And charter school advocates say that's a really inefficient system.
EMILY BRIGHT: Yeah. That's really interesting to me. So back to JJ Legacy, as you've been following their story. What happens next?
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah. So they signed a lease on Friday and sent out a notice to parents. They are going to be at the Family Baptist Church, which is, it's also in North Minneapolis. It's a different area of North Minneapolis. They were almost at the Brooklyn Center border. Now they'll be closer to West Broadway at 22nd and Girard. So they are waiting for the company to come move their stuff from one building to the next. And then they'll have to move in, and school starts for kindergarten on September 5th and for first through sixth grade students the next day.
EMILY BRIGHT: Well, I'm sure that teachers are just antsy to get their classrooms set up, and parents are trying to figure out transportation now, huh?
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah. I think that they are glad to finally have a space and to start making some of these plans.
EMILY BRIGHT: Well, Becky, thank you for your time and your reporting.
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah. Thanks for having me.
EMILY BRIGHT: Becky Dernbach is an education reporter with Sahan Journal. It's an online news source covering BIPOC and refugee communities across Minnesota. You can go to sahanjournal.com to read that story and others.
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