Minnesota reporter blocked from entering public school board meeting

Clint Combs, a freelance reporter for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, was restricted from entering a Minneapolis Board of Education assembly room to cover a board meeting on March 11, 2025.

Combs told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he first arrived an hour and a half before the start of the meeting at the Davis Center in Minneapolis, where the school district’s administration is headquartered. He said there was no media sign-up sheet available when he first arrived, and he then went to cover demonstrations against school district budget cuts that were taking place outside the building.

When Combs returned around an hour later, he said he initially went to an overflow room to cover the meeting, because the main room was “packed” and he assumed there wasn’t space for him. A source texted him, however, and said media were being allowed into the main assembly room.

But when Combs went to the front desk, a man he assumed was security told him there was only one press spot left and asked for his press pass, which Combs had lost the previous week.

“I offered to provide my driver’s license and relevant byline and also said I would call my editors for verification,” Combs said. While they were speaking, two broadcast reporters walked past and were granted access while he was still being denied entry.

“This was concerning because it seemed that my lack of a press credential badge was the only reason I was denied access, despite the fact that there were available slots for other press,” the journalist said.

“The situation is particularly frustrating because it makes it harder for journalists like me to engage with the speakers, many of whom were addressing important workplace issues at the board meeting,” Combs added.

Several weeks before the denial of access, Combs had clashed with Alicia Miller, the head of human resources for Minneapolis Public Schools, after publishing a Feb. 20 article about former school employees who alleged they and others faced race-based retaliation by Miller.

Miller asked the Spokesman-Recorder to retract and remove the article, and to bar Combs from writing about her in the future, questioning his journalistic integrity, the reporter said.

Miller, in response to an emailed request for comment, affirmed that she had asked for a retraction and an apology for what she said were errors in Combs’ reporting. But she told the Tracker that she had previously been unaware that Combs attempted to attend the March 11 meeting.

Regarding the meeting, Donnie Belcher, the executive director of communications and engagement for Minneapolis Public Schools, told the Tracker in an email: “The room was filled to capacity so no one was allowed access after a certain point, but had we known that Mr. Combs (or any journalist) needed access, a staff person could have come out to escort him in.”

Belcher added that press are required to sign in at meetings, and that “we have a special seating area for press within the assembly room where our board meetings take place.”

Combs noted that “restricting access to the main room has a chilling effect that prevents journalists from asking public speakers follow-up questions.”

He added, “It would have been helpful if MPS had a designated RSVP press email or process to address these concerns ahead of time.”