Documenters report: St. Paul school board to vote on ESL staff cuts Friday
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Twin Cities Documenters (via MinnPost)
MinnPost’s Twin Cities Documenters program trains and pays community members to take notes at local government meetings. Below are Documenter Arielle Newfield’s summary and observations from the Oct. 20 meeting of the Saint Paul Board of Education. You can find Arielle’s full notes here, which include links to the agenda and video recording.
About this board:
The Saint Paul Board of Education, also known as the school board, is comprised of seven members who are elected at-large, meaning they represent the entire district.
After public comment, the St. Paul school board voted to postpone their decision on proposed mid-year cuts to English learner (EL) staff, and schedule a new meeting to focus on this topic. The meeting is now scheduled for Oct. 30 at 4 p.m.
The district faces a $4.9 million budget shortfall due to 542 fewer EL students than budgeted for this year. Administration is proposing eliminating 18.5 full-time equivalent positions, about 2.6 of which come from unfilled vacancies.
District staff were asked to explore at least one alternative option that would avoid mid-year EL staff cuts, such as furloughing hours or using substitute teachers to address the shortfall.
More than 40 members of the public spoke in support of EL teachers and staff, saying they are pillars of support to families who do not speak English as a primary language, and they were an essential source of connection during Operation Metro Surge.
When the board tried to move on from the allotted 45 minutes for public comment, protesters (inside and outside the room) chanted for 10 consecutive minutes: “Let them speak!”
When the chants ended and the board continued to try to move on, a megaphone was passed around and three people who signed up for public comment spoke to the room.
After security failed to confiscate the megaphone – because they were intercepted by a member of the public – the board voted to extend the public comment period to include every remaining speaker.
Observations and follow up questions:
Accessibility: Did you face any challenges that made it harder to document the meeting or that may have made it difficult for others to attend?
The amount of people led to an overflow room being provided. At first, I was directed there, but I was eventually allowed to sit in the main room at the press table. I had trouble reading the name plates of all speakers.
Scene:
✅ I attended this meeting in-person.
About how many other members of the public did you see at the meeting?
Over 100 were in the mainroom, with many others protesting outside the building before standing in the lobby when the meeting began. At least another 50 people were standing in an overflow room by 5:20pm.
Is there anything else we should know about the meeting environment?
Between 200-300 members of the public community came today to protest. Some wore red shirts that said, “Strong Schools, Strong Communities.”
Notable: Do you have any follow up questions or other observations to share?
The emails informing principals of the staff to be cut were already written with a plan to be sent out on 10/21 before the 10/20 Board of Education meeting even began.
Pat Pratt-Cook, a long-time collaborator and resource for the St. Paul Board of Education, is retiring and will no longer be at future meetings.
How to get involved:
When is the next meeting for this board/committee? Any upcoming public hearings? Online surveys?
The meeting to hold the postponed vote on English learner staff cuts is now scheduled for Oct. 30 at 4 p.m.
The board rescheduled its next “Committee of the Board” meeting to Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 4:30 p.m., instead of Tuesday due to Election Day.
The next regular board meeting will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 5:30 p.m.
