Friday June 12, 2020
By Jenny Berg
Omar Abdullahi Podi poses for a photo Monday, June 8, 2020, in St. Cloud. (Photo: Zach Dwyer, [email protected])
ST. CLOUD — As the president of Waite Park Somali Community Association, Omar Abdullahi Podi has his ear to the ground on issues affecting the local Somali community.
One of those issues is a lack of representation on St. Cloud school board, said Podi, who filed an affidavit of candidacy in May to run for one of the board's four open seats.
Podi, 40, said a large percentage of students in the district are Somali but "no one is representing them."
While the Minnesota Department of Education does not list students by ethnicity, it lists students by race and by the percentage of English-learners.
In St. Cloud school district, 39% of students are black and 7% are two or more races. About 18% are English-learners. A St. Cloud Times story from 2016 estimated about 20% of district students are Somali based on the language spoken at home.
Podi said he's worried the board is not addressing the district's achievement gaps and a no-tolerance culture that can foster discrimination.
"The teachers love to teach the children and the administrators are doing the best they can but the elected school board members are not doing their job," said Podi, who said he helped campaign for some of the current board members but none, with the exception of Zach Dorholt, have been responsive to him since the election.
"They never came back to check in with the community," he said. "I want to make sure my community has someone to help."
Podi has lived in St. Cloud for nine years. He was born in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, then lived in a refugee camp for more than a decade before immigrating to the United States in 2007.
He then lived in St. Louis, Missouri, for five years, where he served as president of a Somali youth organization and on the attorney general's hate crime task force.
Podi took courses at St. Louis Community College and Washington University in St. Louis. He is studying political science at St. Cloud State University and anticipates graduating next year.
He became president of the Waite Park Somali Community Association in December. The nonprofit runs after-school programs, adult basic education classes and ESL courses.
It also provides help for students who have aged out of the traditional public school system but who still want to obtain a diploma, as well as training about U.S. traditions and the cultural differences.
The association serves about 40 families in the St. Cloud and Waite Park communities, Podi said.
Podi said his experiences as both a community activist and as president of the nonprofit will help him connect with families so they can better navigate the school district. He also wants to prioritize counseling and mental health care.
As a board member, Podi said he would help promote the message that Somali children are smart, and often speak Arabic, Somali and English. A barrier to traditional education, Podi said, is that Somali students are often behind in reading and writing English.
Although his campaign focuses on representing Somali and East African communities, Podi said he wants to be a voice for everyone, especially other under-served populations.
"We want to represent as a community, not only Somalis, but everyone who needs help," he said.
Four of the seven St. Cloud school board seats — now filled by Al Dahlgren, Shannon Haws, Jeff Pollreis and Mónica Segura-Schwartz — are up for election in November, with terms beginning in January 2021 and ending in January 2025.
The candidate filing period ended June 2. Seven people filed to run, including incumbents Dahlgren, Haws and Segura-Schwartz.
The candidates elected in the Nov. 3 election will join Zachary Dorholt, Les Green and Natalie Ringsmuth on the board.
The annual compensation for the board chair is $9,240. The annual compensation for other board members is $8,040.