St. Paul Public Schools is considering offering teacher buyouts to avoid a wave of mid-year layoffs.
Under the proposal, the district would give educators 55 and older with at least 15 years of service a $35,000 health savings account deposit, and payout's for up to 150 sick days.
The goal of the offer is to help fix a $4.9 million budget deficit.
This comes after a sudden drop of 542 English learner students, which the district attributes partly to "Operation Metro Surge," the federal government's immigration crackdown over last winter.
Earlier in October, SPPS Superintendent Dr. Stacie Stanley wrote a letter explaining the impact of the immigration efforts by the Trump administration, adding she knows there are many factors affecting families and communities across Saint Paul.
"Operation Metro Surge, changes in immigration, and fewer new families settling in our community are among the circumstances reflected in our enrollment. Many of the students who are no longer enrolled with us are English language learners," Stanley said.
The buyouts would save about $2.3 million dollars and would protect up to 18 English learner teachers from being laid off.
"While we anticipated and planned for an enrollment decline due to immigration enforcement actions, we did not know how severe it would be when budget decisions were made last spring," Stanley also said recently.
A special school board vote on the proposal is scheduled for Friday at 4:00 p.m.
The district attributes the drop in English learner students partly to "Operation Metro Surge"
The district attributes the drop in English learner students partly to "Operation Metro Surge"
