Prior Lake‑Savage Area Schools board votes 5‑2 to sunset district equity and inclusion resolution

At a school board meeting, the Prior Lake‑Savage Area Schools Board of Directors voted 5‑2 to sunset the district’s equity and inclusion resolution after public comment and extended discussion.

The vote followed roughly an hour of public comment in which parents, students and community members urged opposing actions. “Equity did do was give me and many students like me the resources we needed to have a fair chance of success,” said Bennett Gillespie, a recent Prior Lake High School graduate who spoke during the open forum. Victoria Schultz, a parent who served on the committee that drafted the resolution, told the board she was “proud” of the resolution’s creation and warned that rescinding it would “underserve” students who need accommodations.

Supporters of keeping the resolution pressed that it was the product of months of community work and provided clarity about the board’s stance. “This piece of paper took months to create by 30 or so people in our community,” Director Olstead said during the board discussion, urging colleagues not to discard the document without further review. Director Frantz also argued for revision rather than removal, saying the resolution was meant to be updated and that removing it outright would send a divisive message.

Board members who supported sunset framed their vote as a shift toward the district’s recently adopted strategic plan. “The question before the board is whether it’s time to sunset this resolution and thereby begin to filter all of our decisions from the boardroom to the classroom through our new strategic plan,” Chair White said before opening discussion. Several speakers and directors said academic results have not improved sufficiently under the resolution and that the strategic plan emphasizes academic excellence and unity.

Before the final vote the board considered a motion to refer the item to a future study session. That amendment failed, 4‑3. The original motion to sunset the resolution was moved by Director Johnson and seconded by Director Atkinson; it carried 5‑2.

The board packet and members’ remarks show the action was procedural — the resolution was removed from its standing place as a separate guiding document — but directors who opposed the action said the board provided too little public notice and opportunity for community discourse before a final vote. Several callers and speakers had urged the board to preserve or revise the resolution rather than eliminate it.

After the vote the board proceeded to other agenda items, including final budget approval and personnel items.

The board did not specify next steps for any committees that had been convened to implement the resolution nor provide a timetable for how the strategic plan would absorb the resolution’s previous duties.