The St. Paul school board is poised to vote Tuesday, Oct. 20, on a proposal to cut about 16 English language teachers midyear, following a larger than expected decline in students learning English.
The proposed cuts follow another reduction of 16 English language teachers in June. District officials said St. Paul Public Schools has 542 fewer English learners than it projected in January — which would mean $4.9 million less in revenue.
In total, St. Paul Public Schools has lost about one in eight of its English learners since March 2025, according to data provided by the school district — a decline of more than 1,100 students.
Carrie Kyung, president of the St. Paul Federation of Educators, said in an interview Monday that her union was “sideswiped” by the proposal for midyear cuts, which she described as “unprecedented.”
She noted that the cuts would cause widespread educator reassignment across the district for students who had already endured a challenging and traumatic year.
“I don’t know how clearly the district knows or takes into consideration the amount of trauma that Metro Surge caused to our students,” she said.
Superintendent Stacie Stanley addressed the enrollment reduction in an Oct. 12 email to staff and families.
“Operation Metro Surge, changes in immigration, and fewer new families settling in our community are among the circumstances reflected in our enrollment,” she wrote. “Their absence is felt in our schools and throughout our community.”
She noted the enrollment decline would mean less state funding and would require budgetary adjustments.
“I wish the circumstances were different, and that we were not in this situation that none of us asked to be in,” she wrote. “I will continue to do all that I can to ensure that our students, staff and families have the support they need during these difficult times.”
English learners account for more than 80% of the district’s enrollment decline between October 2025 and October 2026.
English language teachers told Sahan Journal that if the cuts were to pass, they would result in disruption across the district. The union estimates that 75% of schools would be affected.
Kristi Herman Hill, an English language teacher at Washington Technology Magnet High School, told Sahan Journal that three of the teachers who stand to lose their jobs currently work at Washington. She said that as a result of Operation Metro Surge, teachers had gotten particularly close to their students.
“Students would be heartbroken to lose these teachers that they’ve gotten really close with,” she said. “But also to do it midyear is just cruel.”
Though three Washington teachers would lose their jobs following the seniority order in the teacher contract, they would be replaced. Under the staffing reallocations, Washington would actually gain about a net half-time English language teacher.
But the disrupted relationships would have a negative impact on students, Herman Hill said. She also worried that those teachers would be replaced by multiple people working part-time in the building. Since last spring’s budget cuts, the district has been splitting more English language teachers across multiple buildings.
“Good teaching happens because of relationships that we build with our students. They trust us. They understand how we teach,” Herman Hill said. “To yank those teachers out right after that six-week mark, and replace them with a teacher who has to learn all of the curriculum, try to build those relationships, learn a new school culture where they may not even be in this building full-time, and they’re supposed to do that on a very quick turnaround — it’s going to have a huge effect on our students.”
Lindsey King spent five years as a full-time English language teacher at Como Park Elementary, but after the spring budget cuts, her time was split between two schools. Now she teaches at Como Park four days a week and Mississippi Creative Arts School one day a week. If these cuts go into effect, she would keep her full-time job with the district, but she expects her time at Como Park would be reduced to one or two days a week.
So far this school year, she’d gotten to know her students well, she said. Now some of her students would be reassigned to another teacher who would have to start over building relationships with them.
“It’s going to be really hard and confusing,” she said. She noted that English language teachers often serve as a key point of contact between families and schools, even once students move on to higher grade levels.
“Losing that, I think, is going to be especially hard,” she said.
St. Paul Public Schools officials previously told Sahan Journal that the decline in English language learners dates to when Donald Trump was sworn in for a second presidential term in January 2025, effectively closing the border and sharply reducing refugee admissions. New immigrant students all but stopped arriving in St. Paul Public Schools and districts across the country.
In Minnesota, these trends were exacerbated by Operation Metro Surge. Over the winter of the 2025-2026 school year, thousands of immigration enforcement agents and Customs and Border Protection agents descended on the Twin Cities, detaining more than 3,400 people, including more than 70 children. A Sahan Journal data analysis showed that nearly 500 St. Paul Public Schools students left the district during this time, about half of whom were English learners. Some families were deported or self-deported. Others moved out of state.
As a result of the accumulated enrollment decline, the school board voted in June to cut positions for the equivalent of 16.3 English language teachers effective this fall. At that time, the district’s projections for fall English language learner enrollment were based on enrollment data from January — before the impact of Operation Metro Surge became clear.
“A lot of our immigrant families are still kind of in hiding and in survival mode,” Herman Hill said. “Where are their voices in all of this?”
The union plans to rally at 4:30 p.m. in advance of the 5:30 school board meeting.
