For the first time in three years, St. Paul voters have the opportunity to elect new representatives to the school board. Typically, these elections happen every two years, but the city’s switch to even-year elections — and the school board’s decision to follow suit — meant that school board elections were delayed for a year.
This year, voters will elect at least two and as many as three new school board members. The election comes just as the St. Paul school board is grappling with lower than expected enrollment from English learners and is considering the rare move of terminating English language teachers midyear to keep the district from falling below a key financial benchmark.
Each of the last three years have also involved substantial budget reductions, even as voters approved an increase in their property taxes to boost St. Paul Public Schools funding last year.
We asked six of the seven St. Paul school board candidates about their thoughts on school budgets and how to support the district’s immigrant communities in the face of declining enrollment, the impacts of Operation Metro Surge, and an overcrowded Hmong language and culture school.
In St. Paul, all school board members are at-large, meaning they represent voters in every part of the city. Voters will elect three.
Uriah Ward, the board chair, is the only incumbent on the ballot. Halla Henderson is not running for reelection, and Brandon Lowe, who was appointed to fill a temporary vacancy, is not running for a full term.
Newcomer candidates include Stephanie Anderson, Teresa Glass, Tamara Mattison, Omar Syed and Kris Taylor. Michael Schell, who is also running, did not respond to interview requests. Interviews took place from Sept. 29 to Oct. 14, before Superintendent Stacie Stanley unveiled details of her proposal to cut teachers midyear. The candidates’ answers shine light on how they would address the challenges facing St. Paul Public Schools.
