# Edina Public Schools *Public school district serving most of the city of Edina, Minnesota (ISD 273)* Edina Public Schools, designated Independent School District (ISD) 273, is the public school system for most of the city of Edina, [[Minnesota]].[^1] It enrolls about 8,500 students from kindergarten through grade 12 in nine schools: six elementary, two middle and one high school. Its staff of teachers and support personnel numbers 1,139.[^1] The district is one of two Minnesota institutions named on the open [[Title VI]] shared-ancestry investigation list of the federal [[Office for Civil Rights]] (OCR). The other is [[Eden Prairie Public Schools]].[^2] The project's at-issue matrix of 2 September 2026 records the listing. It also records that OCR's general pending-cases database refused automated access (HTTP 403) and could not be checked, so its result is partial.[^2] The record assembled here contains no OCR finding, resolution agreement or court filing concerning the district.[^2] The listing sits within a wider set of federal civil-rights actions concerning Minnesota public bodies. These include the [[United States Department of Justice]]'s pending Title VII suit against the State over its affirmative-action hiring statute, which the Department announced under the heading "Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime".[^3] The record does not connect the district to that suit.[^4] ## Who The district is governed by the Edina School Board, which voted unanimously on May 5, 2015 to place a bond question before voters.[^1] Wikipedia reports that since the late 2010s, some community members have drawn attention to the district because they believe its curriculum has a social-justice orientation.[^1] The record carries no statement by the district itself on that question and no finding about it.[^1] ## When The district traces its origins to 1859. At that time Edina was still part of Richfield Township, and settlers in its northern part formed school district 17 and opened a one-room frame schoolhouse at Code's Corner.[^1] A second one-room school, the Cahill School, followed in 1864 near today's West 70th Street and Cahill Road. A brick building replaced it in 1958.[^1] In February 1872 the district 17 officers voted to move the Code's Corner schoolhouse one mile north, to the site of the present Edina City Hall.[^1] Edina High School opened in 1949. A bond issue approved in the early 1970s paid for a second high school, and the district ran two high schools, Edina East and Edina West, for the graduating classes of 1973 through 1981.[^1] Valley View Middle School received Blue Ribbon School status in 1986–87.[^1] In 1987 the district gathered all kindergarten classes at the former Edina East building. By 1993 it had returned them to neighborhood elementary schools, and Normandale Elementary French Immersion took over the space.[^1] Countryside Elementary added Spanish Dual Immersion in 2022 while phasing out its continuous-progress program.[^1] ## How much Edina voters approved an $85.8 million bond referendum in November 2003 for facility renovations. The work ran from spring 2004 to 2007.[^1] The May 2015 board vote produced a single-question special election on $124.9 million in bonds, repayable over 21 years. The money was for learning spaces, building security at the district's 10 schools and infrastructure, and the question carried 57 percent to 43 percent.[^1] The district has held seven referendums since May 1992.[^1] ## How many Edina High School enrolls about 2,700 students and graduates a class of roughly 670.[^1] At the elementary level, five schools serve their surrounding neighborhoods: Concord, Countryside, Creek Valley, Highlands and Cornelia. Normandale offers French Immersion to students from across the district.[^1] About 70 percent of K–5 students attend a neighborhood school program, 20 percent attend Normandale and 10 percent attend continuous progress at Highlands or Countryside.[^1] Minnesota Highway 100 divides middle-school attendance. Students west of it generally attend Valley View, and students east of it attend South View.[^1] ## In the at-issue record - The OCR open Title VI shared-ancestry investigation list names exactly two Minnesota institutions: Eden Prairie Public Schools and Edina Public Schools. No Carver County entity appears on the readable part of the list.[^2] - OCR's general pending-cases database returned HTTP 403 to automated access and was not checked. The at-issue matrix reports its result as partial.[^2] ## In the Minnesota record ### What On January 14, 2026, the Department of Justice's Office of Public Affairs issued release No. 26-21. Its title is *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*. The release states that Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^3] The complaint, [[United States v. State of Minnesota (0:26-cv-00273)]], was filed in the District of Minnesota the same day under [[Title VII]] of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]. It cites [[Minn. Stat. § 43A.191]] eight times, including subdivision 3(c), which requires an agency to explain its reason for hiring a non-affirmative candidate.[^4] The complaint's claims are allegations, and the record here carries no ruling in the case.[^4] The suit followed *[[Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services]]*, 605 U.S. 303 (2025). In that case the Supreme Court held that Title VII's disparate-treatment provision "draws no distinctions between majority-group plaintiffs and minority-group plaintiffs". The Court also rejected the Sixth Circuit's heightened "background circumstances" rule for majority-group plaintiffs.[^5] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Edina Public Schools* (revision 1356048780, retrieved 2026-10-27), CC BY-SA 4.0 — district designation, enrollment, staffing, school counts, history, program shares and referendum results. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edina_Public_Schools [^2]: Project at-issue record AI-Carver-086, *AT Issue Carver Claims Exposure Matrix* (2026-09-02) — records that the OCR open Title VI shared-ancestry investigation list (source domain ed.gov) names Eden Prairie Public Schools and Edina Public Schools, that no Carver County entity appears, and that the OCR pending-cases database could not be checked. The record's cited anchor is The White House, *Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity* (January 2025). https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/ [^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, release No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026) — release title; Attorney General's certification of general public importance. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime [^4]: U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, *United States v. State of Minnesota*, No. 0:26-cv-00273, Complaint (filed Jan. 14, 2026) — Title VII claims; eight citations of Minn. Stat. § 43A.191, including subd. 3(c). https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1423361/dl [^5]: Supreme Court of the United States, *Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services*, 605 U.S. 303 (2025) — holding on majority-group plaintiffs under Title VII; rejection of the "background circumstances" rule. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1039_c0n2.pdf