The St. Paul School District sent letters to 46 teachers at three struggling schools last week, telling them that they're being reassigned to other jobs in the district.

The letters came as part of the forced restructurings of Humboldt Junior High School and Arlington High School, a consequence of years of subpar test scores dictated by the federal No Child Left Behind law. Some staffers at Humboldt Senior High also received letters because their school will be affected by the restructuring at the junior high.

Signed by human resources director Teresa Rogers, the letters told the 46 teachers that "this assignment change is not related to any issue of misconduct, nor should it be construed as a failure on your part."

"I'm really disappointed," said Arlington teacher James Evans, who received one of the letters and spoke at a teachers union rally Tuesday. "I felt that my years at Arlington had been a success."

In December, the district told teachers at those schools that those who wanted to remain, except for specialty staff for Arlington's biotechnologies program, would have to reapply for their jobs this spring.

But the union decided that "something just didn't feel right" about that process, said union president Mary Cathryn Ricker. We tried "to simplify the process and not put every staff member though it," she said, which resulted in the letters sent last week.

Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said Tuesday that restructuring the schools means setting up entirely new programs. The district needs people who have the "skill set" and the "right attitude" to be part of the reborn schools, she said.

Dozens of teachers rallied outside the district headquarters Tuesday because the St. Paul Federation of Teachers feels it has not had adequate input into the restructuring process as a whole. "The district doesn't need to do this alone," said Ricker. "We have 3,600 members."

Arlington is currently in the first full year of its BioSMART program, which is turning the school into a science, technology and math magnet school. Founded under a $6 million federal grant, the program introduces students to bio-industries such as health sciences, to business, marketing and engineering.

The district also hopes to extend the school day at both schools by the 2010-11 school year, and to create one small 7-12 school in place of Humboldt Junior and Senior high schools.

Carstarphen said Humboldt and Arlington did consult with teachers when they created their restructuring plans. "I'm very sympathetic to what it means for teachers to go through a restructuring process," Carstarphen said. "But I will not apologize for taking action in our schools."

Emily Johns • 612-673-7460