At tomorrow night’s Mankato Area Public Schools School Board meeting, we will hear a presentation on the MAPS-Eligible Families Initiative, an effort to better understand why families who live within our district have chosen to enroll their children somewhere else.
I’m encouraged that district leaders are asking families directly rather than assuming they know the reasons.
According to the report, four major themes emerged from those conversations: experience, size, trust, and faith. Families talked about wanting smaller settings and more individual attention, concerns about public education and student behavior, religious education, and—perhaps most importantly—their experience when they brought concerns to the district.
One finding especially stood out to me. Some families said they did not feel heard, did not know who was responsible for their concern, did not know what action could be taken, or did not believe the problem had ever been resolved.
The district is proposing a process of:
Acknowledge → Assign an owner → Set follow-up → Close the loop.
I think that is a good start. But I also want to make sure we hear from families whose experiences may not have been captured in these initial conversations.
Have you chosen a school outside MAPS?
If your family lives in the Mankato Area Public Schools district but you have chosen another public school, private school, online school, homeschool, or another educational option, I would like to hear why.
Was it academics?
Class or school size?
Safety or discipline?
A situation you felt wasn’t handled well?
Curriculum?
Special education services?
Communication?
School culture?
Faith?
Something else?
You are welcome to speak directly to the School Board tomorrow.
The meeting is Tuesday, September 8 at 5:30 p.m. in the Mankato Room at the Intergovernmental Center, 10 Civic Center Plaza, Mankato. (Mankato Area Public Schools)
Public comment is held at the beginning of the first board meeting of the month. To speak, the district asks that you complete its Public Comment Form by 3:00 p.m. on the day of the meeting. (Mankato Area Public Schools)
School Board page and Public Comment information
Don’t want to speak publicly?
That is completely fine.
You can email, text, or call me and share your experience privately. With your permission, I can raise the circumstance or concern during the discussion without identifying your family.
Elizabeth Hanke – MAPS School Board
📧 ehanke1@isd77.org
📞 507-207-4030
📱 507-351-3367 – Cell
The purpose of asking these questions isn’t to criticize families for choosing another option. It is to understand why families are making those choices and what MAPS can do better.
If we’re serious about improving enrollment and rebuilding trust, we need to be willing to hear both the positive feedback and the difficult feedback.
Slides that will be presented for this portion of the Tuesday night 09/08/2026 meeting:
Elizabeth Hanke for Mankato School Board 
Leave a comment