Residents criticize school district after cancellation of attorney general visit, urge board review

Several Red Wing residents and parents urged the Red Wing Public School District board on March 24 to revisit the district’s handling of a withdrawn invitation for Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to speak at the high school and to address broader concerns about how students of color are treated in district schools.

The public comments came during the district’s public-comment period, where speakers described the withdrawal as an administrative decision that nevertheless reflected poorly on the district and harmed students’ opportunity to hear an elected official.

“I hope you will take a look at this whole subject and conclude that the most appropriate resolution of it would be to invite Keith Ellison to come here to renew the or to repeat, the invitation to him,” said Alan Mueller, who identified himself as a Red Wing resident and “semi-retired environmentalist.” Mueller said the withdrawal of the invitation to Ellison, “the chief legal officer of the state of…