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and parents urged the Red Wing Public School District board on March 24 to revisit the district’s handling of a withdrawn invitation for Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to speak at the high school and to address broader concerns about how students of color are treated in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 Minnesota,” was “disturbing” and asked the board to consider re-inviting him.

Attorney Carol Overland, who said she filed a Minnesota Government Data Practices Act request and posted documents at legilectric.org, described inflammatory public comments she found in the records and criticized board members who weighed in on the speaker choice. “It is not the job of the school board to be selecting people to come before; it’s the job of the principal,” Overland said, urging the board to review whether board members’ comments “micromanag[ed]” administrative decisions and to consider ethics policies.

Parents and students who spoke said the cancellation sent a negative message to students of color and missed an opportunity for students to hear from a statewide elected official. “Some people did not want Ellison because he is an attorney general who is standing up to the Trump agenda,” said parent Julie Martin, adding that students need to see “all sorts of people” speak to them even if adults disagree.

Amber Plank, a Ward 4 homeowner and mother, said the documents released after a data practices request showed problematic local communications and called for accountability from board members. “As a mom, I'm formally requesting that 2 people on the school boards publicly announce their resignations or be removed immediately,” Plank said, adding that she provided copies of emails for the board to review.

Other speakers framed the withdrawal as part of a larger pattern of racial inequity in the district. Herbert Perkins, who said he had been in Red Wing for three years, described the cancelled speaker as “a representative of the black community” whose work benefits Minnesotans and said he was “very disappointed” Ellison had been turned away.

Board members and administrators responded in part by clarifying roles. During the meeting, multiple board members said the decision to withdraw the invitation was an administrative one and not a formal board action, and the superintendent and other administrators described the principal as the staff member who arranged speakers.

Why it matters: Speakers said the incident touches on broader questions of representation, racial climate and whether the district’s governance or administrators should make speaker decisions. Several commenters tied the episode to concerns about recruitment and retention of educators of color and about whether students had opportunities to see role models who reflect their backgrounds.

What the board said it would do: Board members and staff acknowledged the concerns publicly and said the district would examine the documents obtained under the data practices request. The district also said it would provide summaries of district actions in response to public comment as appropriate.

The meeting record shows public comment on this topic occurred during the district’s public-comment period; there was no formal board vote related to re-inviting Ellison during the March 24 meeting.