# Saint Paul Public Schools *School district serving Saint Paul, Minnesota.* Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS, Independent School District 625) is the public school district of [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]]. Wikipedia ranks it second in size among Minnesota districts, behind Anoka-Hennepin, with about 33,000 students in 68 schools and more than 6,000 teachers and staff.[^1] Since July 2013 the district has published a Racial Equity Policy.[^2] The outputs recorded beside that policy are these. State report-card data put 2023 district proficiency at 33.9% in reading, 25.6% in math and 23.9% in science, each lower than in 2019. Consistent attendance was 57%, against 69.8% statewide.[^3] The project located no published race-disaggregated proficiency figures for the district.[^2][^3] The district's federal civil-rights file, as located, holds one instrument. That instrument is Office for Civil Rights Case No. 05-23-1138, a Section 504 and ADA Title II matter about accessibility at Groveland Park Elementary, with a resolution letter dated September 8, 2023.[^4] The district operates inside a state that is a defendant in pending federal litigation. The [[United States Department of Justice]] announced that litigation in release No. 26-21 of January 14, 2026, titled "United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime".[^5] The project's catalogue of U.S.-government "regime" usages finds no other U.S. state so described. That is the project's catalogue finding, not an independently established fact.[^5] The district also appears in the record as a point of comparison. A June 2026 House Oversight staff report records that one [[Feeding Our Future]] site sought a reimbursement "equal to the entire St. Paul Public School district". The project classes that congressional finding as contested.[^6] Separately, a state [[Whistleblower|whistleblower]] suit brought by the district's former chief financial officer alleges misuse of federal COVID relief and nutrition funds, as reported by the Star Tribune.[^7] ## Who - **Board and superintendent.** Seven elected members govern the district, and the board selects the superintendent. Elections fall in Saint Paul's odd-year municipal cycle, with four-year terms staggered so that part of the board is chosen every two years. The races carry no party label, though most candidates pursue and publicize party endorsements.[^1] - **Superintendents.** Stacie L. Stanley took office on May 12, 2025, after interim superintendent John Thein.[^1] On February 15, 2024, the American Association of School Administrators named Joe Gothard, then superintendent, its 2024 National Superintendent of the Year.[^1] - **Plaintiffs in the whistleblower suit.** The suit captioned *Schrul & Mahanay v. SPPS* was filed around November 2024 by the district's former chief financial officer and a business systems manager. It is a state whistleblower action, not a federal enforcement action.[^7] - **Graduates.** Wikipedia lists former Supreme Court Justices Warren Burger and [[Harry Blackmun]] among the district's graduates.[^1] Burger wrote *[[Griggs]]*, 401 U.S. 424, decided 8–0 on March 8, 1971.[^8] He also wrote the plurality opinion in *Fullilove*, 448 U.S. 448, decided July 2, 1980.[^9] ## What - **Racial Equity Policy.** The district's Racial Equity Policy dates from July 2013, according to the district's own publication.[^2] - **The OCR instrument.** OCR Case No. 05-23-1138 concerned three conditions at Groveland Park Elementary:[^4] - an entrance with no accessible route; - a north path that was cracked and routinely blocked; - playgrounds without transfer platforms. The district signed a resolution agreement, and OCR is monitoring compliance.[^4] The located record contains no other current federal civil-rights instrument against the district.[^4] - **Charter schools.** Minnesota's charter-school law dates to 1991, when it was the first of its kind in the nation, and is now codified at Minn. Stat. ch. 124E.[^10] Wikipedia credits Saint Paul with sponsoring and opening the first charter school in the United States, in 1993, and counts 21 charter schools now operating in the city.[^1] - **Federal actions against the State.** The district is not a defendant in any of the following matters. - ***[[United States v. State of Minnesota (0:26-cv-00273)]]***, No. 0:26-cv-00273 (D. Minn., filed January 14, 2026), was brought under [[Title VII]] of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]. The complaint cites [[Minn. Stat. § 43A.191]] eight times. Among those citations is subdivision 3(c), which requires an agency to explain its reason for hiring a candidate who is not from the affirmative group.[^11] - Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^5] According to the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, the case has been certified for a three-judge court with direct appeal to the Supreme Court.[^12] The record shows no merits ruling. - In *[[Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services]]*, 605 U.S. 303 (2025), the Supreme Court held that Title VII's disparate-treatment provision "draws no distinctions between majority-group plaintiffs and minority-group plaintiffs".[^13] - ***United States v. Minnesota Department of Education***, No. 0:26-cv-02078, was filed March 30, 2026, under [[Title IX]]. The record lists it at the complaint stage.[^14] - **Federal action against a neighboring district.** ***United States v. [[Minneapolis Public Schools]]***, No. 0:25-cv-04571, is a Title VII complaint concerning teacher hiring. In it, the Justice Department alleges racial discrimination against teachers.[^15] The located record contains no comparable complaint against Saint Paul Public Schools.[^4] ## When - **1856.** Wikipedia dates the district's founding to 1856. Residents organized it on the premise that "good schools would provide good settlers".[^1] - **1870 and 1879.** Fannie Hayes and A. P. Warren became the first graduates of Saint Paul High School in 1870. The school took the name Central High School in 1879.[^1] - **1914–1950.** City government held control of school affairs from 1914. After sustained public protest, an elected Board of Education was restored in 1950.[^1] - **1964.** Wikipedia states that in 1964 the district began work on measures for equal access to education.[^1] - **1991 and 1993.** The state charter law was enacted in 1991,[^10] and Saint Paul's first charter school opened in 1993.[^1] - **July 2013.** The district adopted its Racial Equity Policy.[^2] - **March 13, 2020.** The project's time table records Governor Tim Walz's peacetime emergency declaration, Executive Order 20-1, on March 13, 2020. Schools closed March 15.[^16] - **September 8, 2023.** OCR issued its resolution letter in Case No. 05-23-1138.[^4] - **2024.** Gothard received the national superintendent award on February 15, 2024,[^1] and the whistleblower suit followed around November 2024.[^7] - **2025.** Stanley became superintendent on May 12, 2025.[^1] - **2026.** The federal Title VII suit against the State was filed January 14, 2026,[^11] and the Title IX suit against the Department of Education on March 30, 2026.[^14] The House Oversight staff report followed in June 2026.[^6] ## Where - **Saint Paul.** The district's schools are in Saint Paul, the seat of Ramsey County. They include traditional high schools, non-traditional high schools such as [[Gordon Parks High School]], care-and-treatment programs and special-education sites.[^1] - **Feeding Our Future sites in St. Paul.** Federal charges in the [[Feeding Our Future prosecutions]] named sponsor networks that listed St. Paul sites.[^17] Sahan Journal reported that the New Vision Foundation in St. Paul was searched on May 22, 2025, and that the warrant alleged more than 1,000,000 meals claimed at the St. Paul location in 2021. These are search-warrant allegations, not charges.[^18] The located record identifies no Feeding Our Future defendant with a stated Ramsey County residence.[^17] ## How much - **Desegregation funding.** Wikipedia reports that the district receives $53.8 million a year in state desegregation funding. It adds that two Supreme Court decisions now bar assigning students to schools by race.[^1] One such decision in the record is *Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1*, 551 U.S. 701 (2007), which addressed race-based student assignment.[^19] - **Whistleblower allegations.** The suit alleges a $43 million budget shortfall and a $179 million overage on the facilities plan. It also alleges that the superintendent told the chief financial officer to "get creative with her accounting".[^7] - **Feeding Our Future.** The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota reports 78 or more defendants charged in a $250 million case.[^20] The House Oversight report uses the district's entire budget as the comparison for one site's claim.[^6] ## How many - **Enrollment and staff.** About 33,000 students, 68 schools, and more than 6,000 teachers and staff.[^1] - **Languages.** Students' families speak more than 115 languages. Most school communication uses five: English, Spanish, Hmong, Somali and Karen.[^1] - **Student population.** Seventy percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, 19% receive special education and 28% are English learners. Wikipedia reports 78% of students as students of color.[^1] - **Earlier enrollment.** In 2001 the district enrolled 46,000 students, about one-third of them Hmong. In 2002 it had the largest Hmong student population of any American district.[^1] - **Proficiency, 2023.** Reading fell from 39.5% in 2019 to 33.9%, math from 32.1% to 25.6%, and science from 29.7% to 23.9%.[^3] - **Attendance.** Consistent attendance stood at 57%, against 69.8% statewide.[^3] - **Suspensions.** The project's outcome file records district suspension counts in successive reported years of 4,830, 4,130, 4,418, 5,130 and 6,269.[^3] ## In the at-issue record Six at-issue entries name the district: - the House Oversight finding on a Feeding Our Future reimbursement claim;[^6] - OCR Case No. 05-23-1138;[^4] - the whistleblower allegations;[^7] - a 2018 state discipline finding; - the 2023 proficiency series;[^3] - the absence of race-disaggregated outcome data.[^2] The project's entry on the discipline finding states the following. On March 2, 2018, the [[Minnesota Department of Human Rights]] found statewide school-discipline disparities, with students of color making up 31% of enrollment and 66% of suspensions and expulsions. Ten districts and charters signed three-year agreements. Saint Paul Public Schools is not among them, while two Saint Paul charter schools and one suburban Ramsey County district are.[^21] The Department's own document is not among the sources in this record. The finding is therefore stated as the project's entry reports it.[^21] ## Omissions in official accounts The district publishes a Racial Equity Policy dating from July 2013.[^2] The district-level outcome figures located in published state and district data for 2023 are aggregate only. Race-disaggregated proficiency figures could not be obtained from any published source located.[^2][^3] The record documents that gap. It does not establish the reason for it. ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Saint Paul Public Schools* (revision 1379613596, retrieved 2026-10-27; CC BY-SA 4.0) — district size, governance, history, demographics, charter-school and graduate entries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Paul_Public_Schools [^2]: Saint Paul Public Schools, *Racial Equity Policy* page (policy dated July 2013) — district self-publication; project outcome file E-R16 records no race-disaggregated proficiency located. https://www.spps.org/domain/11910 [^3]: Minnesota Department of Education, *Minnesota Report Card* (2019–2023 data) — district proficiency, attendance and outcome figures as recorded in project outcome file E-R16. https://rc.education.mn.gov [^4]: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, *OCR Case No. 05-23-1138, resolution letter* (2023-09-08) — Section 504 / ADA Title II finding and resolution agreement, Groveland Park Elementary; only located current federal civil-rights instrument against SPPS. https://www.ed.gov/media/document/05231138-apdf-25761.pdf [^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, release No. 26-21 (2026-01-14) — release title; Attorney General's certification. The "no other state" observation is the project's catalogue finding. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime [^6]: U.S. House Committee on Oversight, *MN Fraud Final Staff Report* (June 2026) — Feeding Our Future site claim "equal to the entire St. Paul Public School district"; congressional finding, contested. https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/MN-Fraud-Final-Staff-Report.pdf [^7]: Star Tribune, report on *Schrul & Mahanay v. SPPS* (~November 2024) — allegations in a state whistleblower suit. https://www.startribune.com/marie-schrul-st-paul-schools-whistleblower-lawsuit-joe-gothard/601184522 [^8]: Supreme Court of the United States, *Griggs*, 401 U.S. 424 (1971-03-08) — opinion by Burger, 8–0. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/401/424/ [^9]: Supreme Court of the United States, *Fullilove*, 448 U.S. 448 (1980-07-02) — Burger plurality. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/448/448/ [^10]: Minnesota Revisor of Statutes, *Minnesota Statutes Chapter 124E, Charter Schools* — codifies the 1991 charter law. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/124E [^11]: United States District Court, District of Minnesota, *United States v. State of Minnesota*, No. 0:26-cv-00273, Complaint (filed 2026-01-14) — Title VII claims; eight citations of Minn. Stat. § 43A.191, including subd. 3(c). https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1423361/dl [^12]: Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, *United States v. State of Minnesota* case page — certification for a three-judge court and direct Supreme Court appeal (tracker). https://clearinghouse.net/case/47712/ [^13]: Supreme Court of the United States, *Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services*, 605 U.S. 303 (2025) — Title VII disparate-treatment holding. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1039_c0n2.pdf [^14]: United States District Court, District of Minnesota, *United States v. Minnesota Department of Education*, No. 0:26-cv-02078, Complaint (filed 2026-03-30) — Title IX complaint. https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1433251/dl [^15]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *Justice Department Sues Minneapolis Public Schools for Racial Discrimination Against Teachers* — announces complaint No. 0:25-cv-04571 (Title VII, teacher hiring). https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-minneapolis-public-schools-racial-discrimination-against-teachers [^16]: Office of the Governor of Minnesota, *Executive Order* page (URL dated 2020-04-08) — cited by project time-table row TL-0878 for Executive Order 20-1 (2020-03-13) and school closure on March 15, 2020. https://mn.gov/governor/news/executiveorders/2020-04-08-eo-20-20/ [^17]: U.S. Department of Justice, *U.S. Attorney Announces Federal Charges Against 47 Defendants in $250 Million Feeding Our Future* — charged sponsor networks listing St. Paul sites. https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/us-attorney-announces-federal-charges-against-47-defendants-250-million-feeding-our-future [^18]: Sahan Journal, report on the search of New Vision Foundation, St. Paul (2025-05-22) — search-warrant allegations, not charges. https://sahanjournal.com/public-safety/feeding-our-future-st-paul-nonprofit-searched-new-vision-foundation/ [^19]: Supreme Court of the United States, *Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1*, 551 U.S. 701 (2007) — race-based student assignment. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/551/701/ [^20]: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota, *78th Defendant Charged in Feeding Our Future Fraud Scheme* — 78+ defendants; $250 million. https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/78th-defendant-charged-feeding-our-future-fraud-scheme [^21]: Project at-issue record, *Ramsey Claims Exposure Matrix* (2026-09-02), pair AI-Ramsey-069 (row E-R9), reporting sources on mn.gov and minnpost.com that are not in this record's source list. The URL is the project's comparator anchor, the executive order *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos* (March 2025), which does not itself establish the finding. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/