Thanks for support during Metro Surge

As the superintendent of Saint Paul Public Schools, fourth-generation Saint Paulite and an SPPS alum – I couldn’t be more proud of my birthplace.

As immigration enforcement intensified this winter, more and more SPPS families chose to keep their students home rather than risking the journey to school. At the surge’s peak in January 2026, 5,000 to 10,000 of Saint Paul Public Schools’ 33,000 students were absent on any given day. The numbers were even starker for specific student groups and individual schools, with over half staying home on multiple days.

Not only does missing school mean missing out on learning, but too many absences in a row can mean the student has to be withdrawn from school altogether.

Our caring SPPS staff showed up fully for our families to provide resources and emotional support, deliver meals, and keep students connected to their education during an extraordinarily scary time. This included creating a temporary virtual learning option with remarkable speed, which started on Jan. 22 with over 7,000 students registered.

“Whatever it takes” isn’t just a motto – it’s what I witnessed every single day over the past three months. Our teachers and support staff turned on a dime, revising their lesson plans and daily routines to support students simultaneously in person and online, ensuring they were given necessary support.

Along with lesson planning, teaching and grading assignments, our staff were running donation drives, coordinating rides and school patrols, and working fervently to make sure all of our students had whatever they needed to remain whole – academically, emotionally, and as a community.
This type of selfless action on behalf of others is the epitome of the proverbial “standing in the gap,” and is what we’ve seen carried out in real time all across our city.

From the volunteers in yellow vests with hearts standing watch at the corner every day, to our parents collecting funds to pay for families’ missed rent, to our staff and the students themselves: If I could thank each and every one of you personally, this is what I would say.

To our parents: Thank you for taking care not only of your own children, but for looking out for their classmates and friends who were afraid of being taken away on their way to or from school. You provided rides, food, supplies, and peace of mind for our families through your kindness and supportive actions.

To our neighbors: You provided a lifeline for our families, whether it was collecting school supplies for students learning from home or standing sentinel outside our schools. Your actions meant the world to those who needed to know they were not alone in one of the most frightening chapters our community has faced. Thank you for caring about our youth and for putting their wellbeing ahead of your own.

To our students: The way you supported each other and stood up for justice shows me that you are living out our district’s mission and values: pursuing equity and changing the world, one courageous act at a time. I know that our future is bright because you will be the people leading it!

To our SPPS staff: Thank you for continuing to be the steady ground for our families and the light for our students. You are the beating heart of our community, the people who SPPS families trust to teach, nurture and protect their children. You are invaluable, and your dedication is admired more than you know.

These past few months will leave a lasting mark on all of us. While I am grateful that most of our students have returned to school, my heart remains with those who may not be coming back. As we move forward together – and there will always be a next challenge – may we carry both the weight of this moment and the extraordinary strength it revealed in each of us. Saint Paul showed up, as Saint Paul always does and will.

On behalf of our students, our families, our school board, and all of us at Saint Paul Public Schools: Thank you.