Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Achievement Plus Partnership topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Teachers, families and staff urge board to keep Achievement Plus partnerships and liaisons
Summary
Educators and parents told the St. Paul Public Schools Board of Education on March 18 that ending the Achievement Plus partnership and liaison positions would disrupt on-site family services, after-school programs, dental clinics and literacy interventions at several East Side schools.
Teachers, family members and school staff told the Saint Paul Public Schools Board of Education on March 18 that ending the Achievement Plus partnership would remove supports that many East Side schools rely on for attendance, enrichment and basic family needs.
Ashley Jensen, a second-grade teacher at Bruce Vento Elementary, described Achievement Plus's role in bringing partners such as YMCA Beacons, Children's Dental Service and Neighborhood House into her school; she said those partners provide free after-school programs, on-site dental care and literacy instruction that have improved attendance and made services accessible.
School social worker Hannah Soule and Bruce Vento staff said Achievement Plus funds help sustain a family center that distributes food, clothing and household goods and coordinates benefits for families; Soule said the school would likely have to decline a renewed $10,000 MDE pilot grant for a walking school bus without an Achievement Plus coordinator to manage the partnership.
Jessica Jordan and other staff echoed that Achievement Plus has produced measurable family engagement events, resource fairs and enrichment visits that help keep students in school and support the district's stated equity goals. They warned that cutting the program risks undoing progress in community connection and early literacy interventions.
Speakers asked the board to explain the reasons for ending Achievement Plus, how families were engaged in the decision and which partnerships—if any—would be continued. The comments included specific questions: who will coordinate the district's community partners if the liaison role is eliminated, and how will the district sustain the family center and on-site services?
Ending: Board members heard repeated requests for detail and asked administration for follow-up information; no formal action was taken that night to change the district's plan, and speakers asked for the item to be reconsidered or clarified at future meetings.
