Statement from Saint Paul Public Schools Superintendent Meria Joel Carstarphen
I am proud to be the Superintendent of Saint Paul Public Schools and amcontinuing to work to serve the District's students, families, staffand community members every day. It is well known that I very muchenjoy my job here and remain deeply committed to achieving the visionthat we have set forth over the past three years.
In that time,SPPS has repositioned itself to address, not only current, but futureneeds. We have a strategic plan that takes us through 2011. We have aprocess in place to develop recommendations for systemic changes thatare needed. The Board, the community and the SPPS staff are well awareof the need to continue the change process.
SPPS has big workahead of us in the coming months with preparations for spring testing,Large-Scale System Changes and budget reductions. I am committed toleading those efforts.
It is my understanding that thesuperintendent search in Austin is a closed search and I am not in aposition to comment on that process. Any questions regarding thatprocess are best directed to Austin.
Meria Joel Carstarphen
Superintendent, Saint Paul Public Schools