St. Paul schools may cut 16 teachers after enrollment drop

A rally in St. Paul is pushing to stop midyear job cuts at public schools before an evening school board vote.

Teachers and families gathered before Tuesday night’s St. Paul Public Schools Board of Education meeting, where members are expected to vote on possible cuts. The district said the layoffs are tied to an unexpected enrollment drop after Operation Metro Surge.

District data set to be presented at the meeting shows that St. Paul Public Schools has 542 fewer English language learners, or EL students, this year than originally projected. The district said Operation Metro Surge is one of the main reasons, and the decline in EL students is leading to a revenue loss of nearly $5 million this year.

To make up for that, the district is proposing cutting 16 EL teacher positions. Th...