Lisa Sayles-Adams officially becomes Minneapolis Public Schools' new superintendent
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Public Schools has formally approved its new leader.
Lisa Sayles-Adams will join MPS as superintendent beginning on Feb. 5, 2024. Sayles-Adams, the current superintendent of Eastern Carver County Schools, was one of two finalists. The other candidate was Dr. Sonia Stewart, a deputy superintendent in Tennessee.
Sayles-Adams, who earned her educational doctorate in education leadership last year, previously worked for MPS in a variety of roles for eight years. She has also worked in schools in Georgia and St. Paul before she became assistant superintendent in Minnesota's ISD 622 in 2019. She has led ECCS since 2020.
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The school board signed two contracts with Sayles-Adams Tuesday, and passed a resolution to "transform" its schools, which means some will be consolidated or closed based on enrollment numbers.
Rochelle Cox, the current interim superintendent, took the role last year after Superintendent Ed Graff resigned. Graff, who led the district for six years, presided over MPS's first teachers strike in a half-century, as well as the COVID pandemic and George Floyd's murder and the uprising that followed.
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Cox and district leaders were criticized for their handling of the major cyber attack earlier this year that infected the district's tech system and comprised the data of students, parents and staff.
Sayles-Adams' confirmation came on the same day the board passed a resolution to change the name of Patrick Henry High School to "Camden High School." The move came after years of debate centered on the namesake's ownership of enslaved peoples.