West Siders call for school investment after district drops Montessori program

Jan. 28—In a virtual meeting Thursday with St. Paul Public Schools leaders, residents of the city's West Side bemoaned last-minute changes to the district's schools consolidation plan that figure to take scores of students out of the neighborhood's two elementary schools.

Superintendent Joe Gothard's "Envision SPPS" was supposed to strengthen West Side's Cherokee Heights and Riverview schools and establish strong ties to nearby Humboldt middle and high schools.

The struggling Montessori program at Cherokee Heights would move to J.J. Hill in the Summit-University neighborhood; students in Riverview's community program would slide over to Cherokee Heights; and Riverview's Spanish dual-language immersion program would get an influx of students as Wellstone school closed.

But in response to an outcry from Wellstone parents, the school board last month voted to keep that school open. Students wouldn't be moving into the West Side, after all, but the Montessori program still is moving out.

The changes, which take effect this fall, could leave the two West Side schools with fewer than 400 students — roughly one-third of their combined capacity.

"I don't see how this is helping when it's directly taking families away," West Side parent Shannon Johnson said Thursday.

Community member Carlo Franco said the consolidation plan went through a "confusing process," and the decision to take students out of the West Side came without warning.

"We need to be involved in decisions, especially when we're talking about closing whole programs," he said.

LIST OF DEMANDS

Franco presented a list of demands, which include investments in West Side schools, real community engagement and no program changes until there's a long-term plan to minimize disruption.

Gothard said the administration can't reverse the board's vote, and the district already is planning for next year. Besides the West Side program changes, five schools across the city are closing.

But Gothard said a potential preschool expansion — funded either at the city, state or federal level — would address some of the child care barriers keeping some families from enrolling on the West Side.

Some parents said their schools need before- and after-school care run by the district, but Chief Operations Officer Jackie Turner said there hasn't been nearly enough parent interest to cover the costs of running Discovery Club. She said it's possible the Boys and Girls Club will start taking 4-year-olds, and she promised to work with private child care providers to find options for families.

Turner also said the district has added another preschool class at Riverview this fall to help the school grow its enrollment. She said they could do the same for Cherokee Heights if there's enough interest.

MOVES AREN'T 'FOR US'

One parent said she settled on the West Side in part because the Montessori method worked well for her children. She said she doesn't understand why the program is leaving next year.

Turner said Montessori programs cost about twice as much as general education, and the program at Cherokee Heights hasn't attracted enough students.

"With the amount of money that it takes to run a Montessori program, we cannot have an enrollment that is not sustainable," she said.

Turner estimated that half of Cherokee Heights families want to preserve Montessori, while the rest are happy to see it go.

Franco said it's nothing new for the district to mistreat the West Side. The community had to rally to save Humboldt High School some 50 years ago, he said, and the surprise 2012 announcement that Roosevelt would reopen as Riverview came "without community dialogue."

He offered a slogan he said encapsulates what West Siders have been feeling since the board vote: "Nothing about us, without us, is for us."