MinnPost’s Twin Cities Documenters program trains and pays community members to take notes at local government meetings. Below are Documenter Jamal Denman’s summary and observations from the June 9 meeting of the St. Paul Board of Education. You can find Jamal’s full notes here, which include links to the agenda and audio recording.
Summary:
- The board received an update on the budget for next school year. It will take a final vote at its June 23 meeting.
- The district is facing a $14.35 million shortfall, which is about 1.7% of its general fund budget.
- Contributing factors: Increased expenses (including increasing costs of healthcare for employees) outpacing state aid revenue; about 900 fewer students than expected in 2025-26 and 2026-27.
- Board members explored ways to adjust the budget, but no major solutions surfaced.
- Budget reductions are summarized on slide 15
- The district is facing a $14.35 million shortfall, which is about 1.7% of its general fund budget.
- The board received an update on the district’s 2033 strategic plan, which administrative staff are now finalizing. They are expected to present the final plan at the July 14 meeting.
- The board reviewed its language access plan, which is its strategy to ensure equitable access to information for students and families, which represent more than 115 languages and dialects.
- The plan includes 135 interpreters that speak about 35 different languages
- The board briefly reviewed minor updates to its policies on curriculum, instruction and accountability, and inclusive and equitable education.
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? For example: trouble accessing the location, difficulty hearing the discussion, lack of nameplates for elected officials, or the agenda being unclear, disorganized, or incomplete.
- It was difficult to see and identify who was speaking. They didn’t have microphones/sound systems.
Scene: About how many members of the public attended the meeting? If watching virtually, what was the livestream count (if applicable)? Was anyone protesting outside?
- About 30 people – in addition to what seems to be staff.
- About 8 people in attendance have signs that they would occasionally hold up, some with verbiage showing support for teachers, funding for students/schools, “EL” (English language) students and staff. More people came later after the meeting had already started; many of them had signs as well.
- There was significant Local SPFT 28 representation
- Many people left after the budget update.
Notable: Do you have any follow up questions or other observations to share? What stood out to you as interesting or confusing? Is there anything you’d like to see reporters look further into? Were there any particularly memorable quotes?
- Some observations about athletics:
- Data was presented at this meeting showing that 70% of youth quit organized sports by age 13. SPPS doesn’t start athletic programs for youth until middle school (ages 12-14).
- SPPS charges less than other districts for participation fees, which results in greater access, but then there are less funds available for programs and related costs.
- This meeting was six hours long.
How to get involved:
When is the next meeting for this board/committee? Any upcoming public hearings? Online surveys?
- The next full board meeting is June 23, where they are scheduled to vote on the budget.
Related: Minneapolis school board approves budget for next school year
More context:
Read Documenter Jamal Denman’s full notes on the six-hour meeting here, which includes links to the agenda and audio recording. View our full database of notes here.
Want to become a Documenter? You can start by making an account here.
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