Roiled by an intensifying federal immigration crackdown, students in the St. Paul Public Schools will be allowed to register for temporary online learning without transferring out of their school, an option that takes effect Jan. 22.
All 69 schools will be closed next Tuesday and Wednesday to give teachers time to prepare an online curriculum. Students will still have the choice of attending classes in person.
“This option is different from the SPPS Online School,” reads an announcement from the school district. “To the greatest extent possible, students will learn remotely with teachers and students from their current school for a temporary period of time.”
Last week the school board announced that students could request enrollment in the district’s online school if they felt unsafe attending class. The board also called on federal immigration agents to leave the state.
‘We are trying to create as much stability as possible’
However, alarmed by the growing number of students staying home due to heightened federal enforcement, the St. Paul school board held an emergency board meeting Wednesday in advance of finalizing a memorandum of agreement about the online option involving each school in the district with the St. Paul Federation of Educators.
The board voted 5-1 to authorize Superintendent Stacie Stanley to execute the agreement once details were cemented, which took place less than an hour later.
“Our goal is for students to have the least disruptive experience,” said Stanley, during the meeting. “We are trying to create as much stability as possible.”
Officials who attended a lengthy negotiation session with the teachers union on Tuesday said they were not at legal liberty to discuss all the particulars of a negotiation that was still underway at the time, including costs. Three board members attended the session.
“We were here yesterday for seven hours,” Stanley said. “Things going back and forth in no way changed the service model. If anything, it may have enhanced it.”
Board members said it was unusual for a technical memorandum of agreement to be voted upon by the full board, but they were advised by legal counsel to take a formal position, given the scope of a districtwide switch from in-person to optional distance learning.
Board member Jim Vue cast the sole dissenting vote, noting he could not in good conscience vote on an agreement that was not before him.
“I don’t know what this is going to cost the district,” Vue said.
New agreement goes beyond earlier online option
The new agreement goes several steps further than the earlier online option announced last Friday. It creates e-learning options at schools districtwide without requiring a transfer to the online school. Particulars were not discussed at Wednesday’s board meeting, and Stanley and school board chair Uriah Ward told the board they were unable to elaborate until the agreement was ready.
Stanley later issued a brief video statement on YouTube. In addition to school closures next Tuesday and Wednesday, schools are closed Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
It was unclear Wednesday how long the online option will be made available. More information is available at SPPS.org.
Minneapolis Public Schools will offer the option of online learning through at least Feb. 12. Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan District 196 issued a statement Wednesday indicating it has made schoolwork available online by request “for about four weeks,” but the district is not offering formal online school or distance learning.
The University of Minnesota, meanwhile, informed its 50,000-plus students that there could be online options for some classes when the new term starts next week. President Rebecca Cunningham noted that “violence and protests have come to our doorstep.” The campus sits next to the main Somali neighborhood in Minneapolis.
This report includes information from the Associated Press.
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