St. Paul Reporter

After almost two weeks of deliberations and teacher strikes, St. Paul Federation of Educators (SPFE) reached a deal March 13 with St. Paul Public Schools (SPPS) following concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"Unfortunately, district leaders decided to play politics with a national health crisis by digging in at the bargaining table,” Nick Faber, SPFE Union President, said according to Bringmethenews.com. “They decided to put their own pride before the health and wellness of St. Paul students and educators." 

Union spokeswoman Megan Boldt said the larger issues had seen no significant changes such as mental health, special education and multilingual education and that the most recent proposal made huge cuts to the staff support the union had suggested, according to MSN.

The union has asked for mental health teams in every school building. There are already 500 positions approved for student mental health and well-being in the system already and that this would add $30 million more a year for 300 more hires, Dr. Joe Gothard, SPPS Superintendent, said in a statement according to ABC News. 

The union settled for wage increases of $9.6 million with experience pay raises built-in and $4.7 million for new mental health employees. Although the SPPS is not releasing the proposal agreement, the SPFE shared that it includes, but not limited to, more multilingual staff, more nurses and health care workers, wage increases, expansion on helping end the school to prison pipeline, and more individual time with those students with special needs.  

“We are glad to reach an agreement with our educators,” Gothard told ABC. “Through hours of compromise and a laser focus on placing students above all else, we have a new two-year agreement that targets resources to areas of greatest need.”

SPFE staff was informed to start back to work Friday, March 20 at 1 p.m.

"This fight is the right one; we all know we can and must do better for our children," St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter told Bringmethenews.com. "While the gains won this week will make our district stronger, significant work remains to win the state and federal funding necessary to provide the level of support our children deserve."

According to spps.org, all SPPS activities are canceled. Gov. Tim Walz announced all schools will be closed from March 18 through 27 due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is suggested to keep up to date with all changes in the school schedule on the spps.org webpage.