Superintendent Briefs SPPS Board on Staffing

Staffing issues have plagued the world of education, and St. Paul Public Schools has not been an exception to the rule.

Last Monday night, during the St. Paul Board of Education’s April meeting, members of the board gave St. Paul Superintendent Adam Patrick their vocal approval to shelve a graduation requirement for one year, as the district simply doesn’t have the staff to provide the requisite classes.

“It would be nice… if we could not do our communication requirement for a year. That would help,” Patrick said, while discussing the school’s staffing woes.

According to Patrick, with the district facing staffing struggles, through some “arm twisting” and “reflection,” St. Paul English Instructor Shelly Lukasiewicz, who had resigned her teaching position in February, had agreed to come back at three-fourths time. While Lukasiewicz’s return was welcomed, the terms of her employment next year mean that not all current classes will be able to be filled.

“It is the English department that teaches [communications], so, assuming that we approve Mrs. Lukasiewicz for three-quarters time, we are just missing a couple periods there, where we don’t have staffing,” Patrick told the board. “I know that we talked about it at the retreat, and we were planning on doing it, but, given the circumstances, if we could have permission not to do it, that would be helpful.”

Board President Marty Mrkvicka questioned what all fell under the “communication” requirement. Patrick said that some courses, such as Ag Leadership and Communications, fulfilled that requirement and would likely be offered next year. Additionally, he said that several other classes had a strong “communications” component.

Mrkvicka asked if there was a way to “make sure” that another class required “some sort of presentation,” with Patrick saying that he didn’t believe that would be a problem. In fact, he hypothesized that such a requirement was already being fulfilled by many classes.

“A lot of our classes already have presentations going on. We could emphasize to our teachers to make sure they are having kids present,” Patrick said. “With the exception of, like, math, probably in most of our other subjects, kids are already getting up and presenting and talking in class.”

One class in which a communications requirement could be fulfilled was in government, with Patrick saying that all students were already required to take that course.

“All of our kids have to take government, anyway, so maybe emphasizing that you have to do at least one oral presentation – which I think [Matt Koehn-Fairbanks] already does anyway,” the superintendent said. “But, we could certainly emphasize that to start next year: to make sure that, ‘Hey, we pulled this, so make sure we are supplementing it with something else.’” While the district’s leader pointed out that, if someone on the board “felt strongly” that the requirement needed to remain next year, the district would “figure out a way,” he reiterated his point that not having the district require a “communications” course would be “helpful.”

Members of the board voiced their support for the superintendent to shelve the requirement for the next year. At that point, the group could reevaluate the school’s staffing situation.

Patrick also provided members of the board with a general overview of some of the other staffing issues that the district was facing.

According to the district’s leader, St. Paul Public Schools had worked out two days for school psychology services, with Educational Service Unit (ESU) 7 providing one day of service and ESU 10 providing another.

Last Monday, the superintendent said that the school had interviewed a potential music teacher; however, at the time, Patrick said that the candidate “had a couple other interviews.”

Thankfully, if no one could be hired to fill that position, the administration had a plan.

“We do have a backup plan, if it doesn’t work,” Patrick told the board. “I think we can finagle some things and get that to work.”

Also, Patrick noted, with Lukasiewicz’s return, the district had “pieced together” the English schedule. The workload in that department was reduced thanks to what Patrick described as a “pretty strong” senior class. Around twenty- five seniors will be taking dualcredit English courses through Central Community College next year.

Finally, Patrick said that the district was still waiting to see how things panned out before addressing staffing in the school’s special education department. The school had not had “any applications” for its special education (SPED) opening.

“We haven’t discussed many concrete ways to make sure that we are providing those services for those students, because of the juggling of schedules, we don’t have a concrete schedule yet,” Patrick said. “It has been kind of difficult to tell how we might need to meet those needs.”

Patrick’s presentation concerning the school’s staffing needs buoyed what was a twenty-sixminute meeting last week. Also during his report, the superintendent said that the architect tasked with tackling the school’s facility study had been on site and that the study would be done by June.

Patrick also lauded the success of the schools’ FBLA, FFA, and FCCLA organizations at their various competitions in recent weeks.

“We are proud of those programs, proud of those sponsors, and all of the work that they have done,” he said.

Other items tackled last week during the board of education’s April meeting were the approval of Lukasiewicz’s hire, a vote to table review of policies 3001 to 3030 due to Board Member Janelle Morgan being absent, and a vote to take action to revise Policy 2006.

Early on during last week’s meeting, members of the board went on a tangent concerning bringing some behavioral and special education services in house. Last week, the board approved a series of claims for outside services, with one of the service providers charging the district over $24,000 for two months of service.

“What would it take to do it ourselves?” asked Mrkvicka following the financial report. “Would that be cheaper to have a facility?”

Patrick said that staffing would the district’s biggest hurdle to operating those programs, noting that “it is a tough job.” However, the superintendent added that “if you had room and you could staff it, there is waiting room only” for those programs.

Patrick also said that having a suitable facility for those programs would also be key, noting that he wasn’t sure that the Heritage building, which is owned by the district, would have the space for such a program.

“Maybe it is something we need to visit,” stated the board president.

Mrkvicka, who joked that the idea to bring those services in house belonged to Board Member Jason Meinecke, especially if it failed, said that he thought that having such programs operated by the district could help address “issues” that board members had heard about in the school.

“Maybe it would help with some of the issues we have heard,” Mrkvicka said.

“A“ lot of our classes already have presentations going on. We could emphasize to our teachers to make sure they are having kids present.”

- Adam Patrick