School Board approves 2020-21 budget with spend down of fund balance

At the Monday, June 22 School Board meeting, the school board approved the 2020-21 budget. Finance Director Aaron Bushberger provided a review of the 2020-21 budget, which included the anticipated revenue and expenditures for the General, Food Service, Community Service and Debt Service Funds. The General Fund budget for 2020-21 is anticipating a nearly $1 million shortfall. Each year 80% of the district’s general fund revenue comes from the State of Minnesota and given the state’s current financial challenges and other COVID-19 related impacts, the district could face an even greater shortfall than previously projected.

Planning for three learning scenarios for the 2020-21 school year

Believe it or not, the first day of school will be here before we know it and our staff are hard at work planning for a safe and successful year. Last week, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) released its guidance for school districts to plan for three scenarios for the 2020-21 school year, so our schools can be ready for whatever the public health situation may require. MDE will announce the scenario that all school districts will start the school year with by the week of July 27. We wanted to share these scenarios with you and what SSP is doing to prepare for school this fall.

School Board Elections to be held this November

On Tuesday, November 3, 2020, voters will elect three residents to serve on the seven-member school board of South St. Paul Public Schools. These seats are currently held by Jeff McClellan, Nikki Laliberte and Patty Bjorkland. The terms of these three current school board seats are expiring in January 2021. The period for filing affidavits of candidacy for the office of school board member begins Tuesday, July 28 and closes on Tuesday, August 11 at 5 p.m.

Leah Bourg joins South St. Paul Schools as Middle School Principal

SSPPS is excited to announce Leah Bourg as the new middle school principal. Leah brings incredible leadership experience from all three levels of the school system (elementary, middle and high school). Leah has served as an administrator at Metcalf Middle School in Burnsville and Crossroads Elementary in St. Paul. She also has 10 years of International Baccalaureate teaching experience. Leah has experience establishing and leading Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) to increase student achievement and improve building climate. Throughout her years, she has also been a leader and teacher of technology for her colleagues.

SSP seeking name recommendations for new CLC and Community Education building through June 30

South St. Paul Public Schools is seeking community input on the name of the River Heights Professional Building they purchased last September. Starting this fall, the building will house the Community Learning Center (CLC), the district adult learning programs and Community Education offices.

Summer learning, activities, meals, child care and more

Summer 2020 may look a little different than years past, but we are still finding ways to support student learning. Find more details about summer learning, meals, child care and what we know about the 2020-21 school year below.

A message from Superintendent Dave Webb about the death of George Floyd

These past few days have been extremely difficult for our community, our state and our nation. The tragic killing of George Floyd, and the subsequent violence and unrest has been scary and deeply upsetting. As an adult, I know how difficult it has been to process all I have seen on the news. I am continuing to struggle with the tragic death of George Floyd, the events that have followed and the hurt of so many. I also struggle for words to describe my feelings, my emotions and how to best support all of you in this extremely difficult time.

Information on CLC and high school virtual graduations

Next week is the end of the 2019-2020 school year and we couldn’t be more excited to celebrate the Class of 2020 and all their accomplishments. We hope you and your family will join us virtually and we’re encouraging all graduates to wear their caps and gowns while viewing the graduation ceremony with their households. Principal Ochocki and Assistant Principal O’Reilly will take the seniors through the traditional Tassel Ceremony, so graduates can move their tassels together as a class at the end of the ceremony. Read below for more details about the virtual graduation ceremonies.

Important emergency food and childcare updates, grading and material return

We are in the home stretch for the last few weeks of distance learning and wanted to share a few important updates. As a reminder, there are two previously scheduled non-student days on Friday, May 22 and Monday, May 25. Students will not have distance learning on those days and emergency school meals and school-age care is also affected. Please read below for more information about these days, end of year material return and grading.

Grading modified during Distance Learning

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to distance learning, grading and report cards for SSP schools will look a little different this spring. The district recognizes the significant disruption to the school year and student learning caused by our shift to distance learning. Throughout this time teachers have been gathering evidence of learning, however it is difficult to assess the many benchmarks and standards teachers are typically able to do in a normal school setting. Read below for specific changes to elementary, secondary and preschool grading for this spring.

Packer Pride “Turn the Town Maroon” Month

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect our lives in many ways and the SSP School Board wants to recognize and support our students, staff and community during this difficult time. At the May 11 School Board meeting, the SSP School Board unanimously approved a resolution declaring the next four weeks Packer Pride “Turn the Town Maroon” Month. The resolution, shared below, encourages all South St. Paul residents to help “Turn the Town Maroon” by displaying their Packer pride at their homes and businesses as a show of support and encouragement to our students and staff, especially the graduating Class of 2020.

Preschool and elementary locker clean-up and material pickup information

When schools closed in March, nobody thought it would be the last time we would see our students in person this school year. With the announcement last week from Gov. Walz that distance learning will continue through the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year, we are beginning to prepare for another month of distance learning and end-of-year activities. Click to read more.