Petitions to delay vote on controversial Minneapolis Public Schools plan circling

As Minneapolis students settle in to distance learning, there are big discussions brewing beyond the textbooks about how the education system should work.

The district was set to vote on its new comprehensive district design plan, or CDD, this month, a controversial plan that could cause huge changes for many students.

"We, my husband and I, both support the CDD as really a good start," said parent Ellen Guettler.

She said change will always be hard, and now is the time to vote on the plan.

"I do want to move forward right now, I think the situation that we are in highlights more urgency than ever in offering all of the children in our city the resources, the chance, to be able to get an education," she said.

But others disagree. There are a number of petitions going around the district right now asking the leadership to hold off on a vote just because of what folks are dealing with.

"This is not the time to do this, people have other higher priorities, as they should," said Minneapolis School Board Member Bob Walser.

Walser said he just learned Tuesday the vote has been pushed back to May, and said he's been getting tons of emails asking for a delay.

"We have neighborhoods in Minneapolis that do not have WiFi coverage where families do not have access to this material, so they would be excluded from this process, that's not fair, that's not right," Walser said.

Minneapolis Public Schools declined an interview Tuesday, stating leaders hope to share more information about the CDD in the next day or two.