Continued: Cry for change resounds in St. Paul schools

The St. Paul School District this fall is planning on engaging community members, parents and school district staff in an indepth discussion about the district's future with one major premise: Things need to change.

The district, which serves about 38,800 students, faces considerable challenges. It has made more than $93 million in budget cuts over the last nine years. Only half its students are proficient in reading, the achievement gap between white students and students of color is among the widest in the nation, and federal and state expectations for student achievement are accelerating.

The district "is at a crossroads," according to a presentation that district staff made to school board members on Thursday night. "Business as usual is not a sustainable option for achieving our mission."

The St. Paul district's efforts to comply with federal and state desegregation laws over the past 30 years and retain students have resulted in a complex network of magnet and neighborhood schools.

The district is now facing at least another six years of budget cuts and forced restructuring of some of its schools under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

To face those challenges, the district is embarking on a project to make large-scale reforms to the school system that will take several years to come to fruition.

It does not yet know what those changes are, said Christine Wroblewski, chief community relations officer for the district, while telling the board about the district's plan to engage the public in the discussions.

"Right now, we're in the 'why' phase," she said. 'We're dealing with, 'Why are we doing this, why are we considering it?'"

Some changes in progress

This fall, the district plans to talk to staff members and the public about the process for deciding what to do. District officials will also make decisions about possible program changes that would take place by the start of the 2009-2010 school year.

The district is focusing its efforts, for now, on four schools that the No Child Left Behind law has classified as in trouble: Washington Technology Middle School and Open School are both in need of "corrective action," according to the law, and Arlington High School and Humboldt Junior High are "preparing for restructuring."

At some of these schools, significant reform is already underway.

"We tried to get in front of any train wreck that might happen," Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said.

The district needs to file a school improvement plan with the state Department of Education by Nov. 1, but it plans to list some of the reforms that have already taken place. In conversations with the state, Carstarphen said, "We told them that we feel we're going the right direction with some of these schools."

Those district changes include:

• Arlington High School is starting its first full year of a BioSMART program, which gives the magnet school a science, math and technology focus. The program was started with a $6 million grant last year, and it introduces students to bioindustries, including medical and health sciences, business and marketing, and engineering.

• A program focusing on careers in science and health at Washington Technology Middle School.

• A program focusing on the environment and career preparation at Humboldt Junior High, with the senior high.

More changes are likely on the way for the junior high, Carstarphen said.

"I don't think we're done with our work there," she said, "we're going to need to do a lot more."

Other challenges

District staff on Thursday laid down a list of considerable challenges. Those include declining enrollment, which exacerbates financial strains also worsened by rising food and fuel prices.

The school district's infrastructure is designed for more than 45,000 students, according to Lois Rockney, chief business officer.

"If we keep the same program as we've got, we can't keep pace with revenue," she said. "We will find ourselves in a shortfall position."

While no one dared mutter the words "school closings," board members and district staff talked about "rightsizing" and "consolidation" in the district.

The presentation to the school board, and the conversations to come with the community, seemed designed to help the board muster the institutional courage needed to make tough choices about schools and programs that may not play well in different parts of town.

"We need to continue to remind people that this isn't us and them, it's us and us," said board member Anne Carroll. "If St. Paul Public Schools aren't in rock-solid shape, there is no St. Paul."

Emily Johns • 651-298-1541