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Riham Feshir
St. Paul, Minn.

St. Paul school board votes to leave integration district

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The St. Paul School District plans to drop its membership from the East Metro Integration District (EMID), according to a vote the board took in a special meeting Tuesday.

In a statement released after the vote, the board cited changes EMID has implemented, including dropping Harambee and Crosswinds, as reasons for its intent to withdraw by the beginning of the next school year.

EMID is a collaborative of 10 area school districts that united 20 years ago to address the educational issues resulting from dramatic demographic changes and inequities.

St. Paul district officials say the percentage of students of color in many east metro suburbs has increased, making integration efforts that depend solely on the movement of students across districts less necessary.

"The initial concept of EMID was for there to be inter-district exchange between students either through the schools, direct enrollment or other activities, that would promote exposure of children of color and white students to each other," said Michelle Walker, Chief Executive Officer for St. Paul Public Schools. "Now the suburban districts are finding their demographics are changing, they actually have more students of color in their district."

The board said EMID struggled over the past two years to develop a new vision for inter-district collaboration. But EMID Executive Director Jean Lubke emphasized that St. Paul School Board only intends to withdraw at the end of the 2015-16 year, but hasn't officially acted yet.

"I think that's a little early to make a statement about how I'd feel if they withdrew," she said.

Other member districts, including Spring Lake Park, have also had discussions regarding the intent to withdraw, Lubke said, but EMID will work with all members to try and continue working together.

"As a collaborative we're trying to figure out what are the best ways to collaborate and share best practices and meet the needs of the districts," she said. "And we're going to continue to do that."