Engagement Opportunities

In spring 2023, SPPS hosted two community engagement events with local nonprofit Marnita's Table in a series called "Engage SPPS! Community Conversations & Dinner". The events were held on April 25 at Washington Technology Magnet School and May 4 at Humboldt High School. 

All district and community members were invited to share a meal and discuss what our students, staff and families need to thrive and achieve educational success. Topics included SPPS strategies for equity and inclusion, mental health, academic support, college and career planning, and family engagement.

A full summary of the engagement is available in English here. These events' feedback will help set priorities for the district’s strategic plan, SPPS Achieves, and American Rescue Plan (ARP) initiatives.

This series of community engagement events hosted with Marnita's Table serves as the outcome consultation groups referenced in the June and July 2022 Board of Education meetings. These events are intended to facilitate stakeholder feedback to inform the direction of SPPS Achieves and ARP initiatives. For more information on what was presented at the Board of Education meeting, review the July 2022 Boardbook at spps.org/boe. 

During a three-week community engagement period (August 25-September 10), SPPS gathered feedback from over 140 families, focusing on student groups that were most negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. SPPS also heard from approximately 80 district employees, and received written feedback from other stakeholders including Saint Paul residents, community partners and SPPS alumni.

Clear themes emerged from this engagement period across stakeholder groups:

• Overall, families and staff support the draft plan and allocations
  • Many indicated that they wonder about the accountability, monitoring and adjustments to the plan over time
  • In particular, stakeholders approve of the focus on high-quality education
    
    
• Across stakeholder groups, people were looking for more:
  • Targeted support for student groups
  • Mental health and social emotional learning (SEL)
  • Investment in systemic equity

In response to this feedback, SPPS made the following adjustments to the plan:

• Increased allocation for systemic equity strategies from $5.4 million to $9.9 million
• Prioritized partnerships that support targeted student groups and provide mental health and SEL services within the planned $10 million allocation for community partnerships

A full summary of the engagement is available in English here. SPPS will continue to keep stakeholders informed as the strategies are implemented and is committed to working with stakeholders throughout the funding period to ensure the community’s concerns and aspirations are understood and considered.

Update: The final plan has been approved by the SPPS Board of Education, and received final approval from the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) on November 2, 2021. Please find the final spending plan here.

SPPS has completed a draft of the strategies that are being proposed for federal funding through the American Rescue Plan (ARP). These strategies have been reviewed to make sure they meet the following:

• Federal requirements for how these funds must be used
• Funding priorities from the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)
• SPPS student, staff, school and family/community needs identified through the district’s needs assessment

Community engagement about the proposed ARP strategies took place between August 25 and September 10. Engagement opportunities included an online form for families, staff and community members, and small group community meetings. Feedback from this engagement will be used to help finalize the district’s plan, which must be submitted to MDE by October 1, 2021.

SPPS meaningfully engaged with a wide range of stakeholders in a needs assessment over the course of the 2020-21 school year. The needs assessment included a mix of methods for collecting data from students, family members, teachers and other school staff, department and program leaders, principals, community-based organizations and other stakeholders. Some of the methods used included questionnaires, surveys, online forums, focus groups, document review, and analysis of existing data. In total, SPPS received over 11,000 responses.

Read an executive summary of the ARP needs assessment here. Briefs are available in English, Spanish, Hmong, Karen and Somali.

Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) held a series of family forums to assess children's learning and social-emotional needs in the month of June. Presentations from these forums are available at the links below in English, Hmong, Spanish, Somali and Karen. These forums were part of an extensive needs assessment process. Thank you for your input if you were able to participate.