St. Paul Public Schools avoids layoffs amid $5M budget gap

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - The St. Paul school board approved a new budget plan on Friday, but leaders and teachers said they still need to come up with a long-term fix.

How the district is trying to close the gap

What we know:

The district and the teachers’ union worked on the measure that passed 6-1. It gives the district more time to figure out what to do next and avoids layoffs.

"This is not a fix, and we're in a tough spot here," said Erica Schatzlein, lead negotiator for teachers.

Dig deeper:

Under the plan, the district will leave a dozen positions open. That includes two English learner teachers and seven educational assistants.

As many as a dozen English learner teachers will take early retirements. Those changes are part of how the district plans to save money.

Other moves in the plan

Big picture view:

The district said those steps, along with other budgeting moves and re-enrollments, will help close the budget gap.

Everyone involved agreed that it was not a long-term solution.

Why the budget problem is still there

Fewer students impacts funding:

The district is grappling with a nearly $5 million budget gap. It blames that on the immigration crackdown earlier this year, noting that more than 500 English learner students have left the district, which means less federal money.

"Our probationary teachers are looking at not having a job in the spring, and so we made this deal to what, give them the remainder of the school year?" said Schatzlein. "That's not really a solution, right? It's a temporary Band-Aid."

The plan also will require staffing reductions by the end of the school year, depending on how many teachers retire.

Stacie Stanley, the superintendent, said: "We are being really open and honest about where we're at with our birth rate decline in our city."

What's next:

Stanley said the district is also trying to bring students back.

"We've partnered with an outside organization to really work to do some recruitment to bring students back into our district," she said.

The Source: This story uses information from FOX 9's Mike Manzoni and interviews with Erica Schatzlein, the lead negotiator for the teachers’ union, and Stacie Stanley, the St. Paul Public Schools superintendent.