The second-largest school district in Minnesota said it will offer a temporary virtual learning option for students, citing safety concerns tied to an increased presence of federal immigration agents in the Twin Cities.
Saint Paul Public Schools said the option is intended for students who do not feel comfortable attending school in person and will begin on Jan. 22.
Families will receive a registration link by email on Thursday.
To prepare for the temporary virtual learning option, the district said it will not have classes on Jan. 20–21, in addition to the previously scheduled closure on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
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In the lead-up to the district’s decision to offer a temporary virtual learning option, student attendance plummeted, particularly among students who speak Spanish at home, according to data shared with MinnPost.
On Jan. 9, two days after 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer during a federal enforcement operation in Minneapolis, 51% of students whose home language is Spanish did not show up to school, the outlet reported.
Superintendent Dr. Stacie Stanley said in a YouTube video posted Wednesday on the Saint Paul Public Schools website that over the past several days, she received hundreds of messages about offering a temporary virtual learning option amid ICE operations in the state.
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“Our goal is to ensure that all students can stay connected to the school whether that is in-person or virtually,” she told parents.
Stanley did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on what criteria would be used to determine when the virtual learning option would end.
Minneapolis Public Schools initially canceled classes on Jan. 8–9 after the shooting death of Good, but said in-person learning at all buildings resumed on Monday.
Both school districts’ decisions to offer virtual learning come amid lingering concerns among educators and parents about academic setbacks and mental health challenges linked to prolonged remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Saint Paul Public Schools hasn’t specified how long its temporary virtual option will last, while Minneapolis Public Schools has set a Feb. 12 end date for its own online option.
