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South Saint Paul school board approves policies, accepts donations and opioid settlement funds
Summary
At its Jan. 27 meeting the South Saint Paul Public Schools board approved a slate of district policies on third reading, accepted an anonymous $5,000 donation to the girls softball team for uniforms, and approved a $5,000 joint powers grant from Dakota County for opioid prevention and naloxone supplies.
The South Saint Paul Public Schools board on Jan. 27 approved multiple governance and business items, including final adoption of a group of district policies, acceptance of an anonymous $5,000 gift earmarked for the high school girls softball team and approval of a joint powers agreement with Dakota County to accept $5,000 in opioid settlement funds for prevention and naloxone supplies.
Why it matters: the approved items include policy updates that guide district practice, a donor contribution earmarked for athletics, and county funds intended to support opioid‑related prevention and response — the latter reflecting a recent state requirement to keep naloxone on school premises when indicated.
Votes at a glance: the board carried motions on each item by voice vote with no recorded dissents. The board listed six members present at roll call; trustees voted to approve the consent agenda, several policies on third reading, a special meeting date, the acceptance of gifts, and the Dakota County opioid‑settlement agreement.
Key actions and details reported to the board: • Policies: Trustees approved final (third) readings for policies numbered 5‑16, 5‑13, 6‑07, 6‑14, 6‑26, 4‑18, 4‑19, 4‑37 and 7‑22. Board materials note policy 5‑22 had been pulled for further review because of recent statutory changes.
• Gifts: The board accepted an anonymous $5,000 donation earmarked for girls softball uniforms. Raj Chop, introduced as the district's new finance director, described the donor's decision to give funds directly rather than using time‑intensive fundraising.
• Opioid settlement funds: The board approved a joint powers agreement with Dakota County to accept a $5,000 distribution from county opioid settlement funds. Superintendent Dr. Zambrino told trustees the funds can be used for opioid prevention work and to purchase naloxone, which recent legislative changes require schools to have available for suspected overdoses.
• Consent and scheduling: The board approved routine consent items, bills and staffing reports and approved scheduling a special board retreat and training session for Feb. 3 at 5 p.m. At roll call earlier in the meeting six trustees were recorded present.
Board discussion and context: Trustees thanked staff who worked on the policy reviews and noted outreach to administrators and frontline staff had informed those updates. Dr. Zambrino and other administrators described district use of the opioid funds as routed through health services and school‑based teams, including social workers, counselors and psychologists.
No dissent or recorded roll‑call tallies against these actions appeared in the transcript; each motion was carried by voice vote. The board adjourned at 7:04 p.m.
