The St. Paul school board unanimously selected Stacie Stanley as its next superintendent, hiring the current Edina superintendent whose background growing up in St. Paul and attending the city’s schools pushed her candidacy forward late Thursday night.

The decision comes nearly seven months after Superintendent Joe Gothard left St. Paul to lead his hometown district in Wisconsin and the search for a replacement began.

“The opportunity we have right now is to lead, to lead with compassion and to show our students that you can grow up in any part of this city, and you can become a brilliant leader, and you can be the leader that this city needs at this moment,” said board chair Halla Henderson at Thursday’s meeting. “And I think that is who Dr. Stanley is.”

Stanley edged out fellow finalists Rhoda Mhiripiri-Reed, who is superintendent of Hopkins Public Schools, and Brenda Cassellius, CEO of nonprofit Fresh energy and former Boston Public Schools superintendent and Minnesota commissioner of education.

Saint Paul schools superintendent finalists Dr. Brenda Cassellius, left, Dr. Stacie Stanley, center, and Dr. Rhoda Mhiripiri-Reed.

Board members highlighted Stanley’s St. Paul background, her existing connections in the community, focus on student support and her ability to ask difficult questions when meeting with staff and board members.

John Thein has been serving as interim superintendent since May after the departure of Gothard, who left to lead the school district in Madison, Wis., where Gothard grew up and attended school. Thein also served as interim superintendent of St. Paul Public Schools from 2016 to 2017.

The candidates each spent a day this week visiting schools, meeting district staff, students and community members, and attending virtual meet-the-candidate sessions. Impression forms were available for community members to fill out for each candidate to later be shared with the board.

Candidates were then individually interviewed by the board before providing presentations on academic outcomes. The final candidate interview took place Wednesday.

Stanley has been superintendent of Edina Public Schools since July 2021 and previously served as associate superintendent at Eden Prairie Schools. She is the president-elect of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators. Stanley has held leadership roles in the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District, Roseville Area Schools and East Metro Integration District.

Stanley grew up attending St. Paul schools and graduated from Central Senior High School, as did board member Chauntyll Allen. Stanley said during a virtual session for parents and guardians Wednesday that her mother was also born and raised in the Rondo community.

“I am very proud to be from the Rondo legacy and it would just be an incredible honor to be able to come here and serve families and just give back to the community that helped me — quite honestly, shaped me — to be the leader that I am today,” Stanley said during a virtual session for parents and guardians Wednesday.

Before moving into education, Stanley worked in occupational therapy. She then worked as a math teacher, she said during the virtual session. She eventually became director of the office of equity and integration for East Metro Integration District, a district which no longer exists. In her career, she has overseen curriculum assessment instruction and support services and English-learner programs, she said during the virtual meeting.

Stanley said at her board interview Wednesday that if selected as superintendent, she would create a superintendent academic advisory team that would include members of the executive leadership team, principals and other members relevant to supporting students. The team would allow the district to stay focused on its performance targets, Stanley said.

Board members at times expressed concerns with Stanley coming from a significantly smaller district with largely different student demographics from St. Paul Public Schools, but also described her as an inspirational and compassionate choice for the district who received significant positive feedback from community impression forms.

The suburban Edina district includes six elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school, serving around 8,600 students, with more than 1,300 staff members, according to SPPS. SPPS has more than 33,000 students and more than 6,000 staff, according to the district.

Stanley has a doctorate in educational leadership from Bethel University in Arden Hills, and a master’s degree in education and a bachelor’s degree in K-8 elementary education from St. Catherine University in St. Paul.

“She’s going to do a fabulous job, and I have faith in her. Anything I can do to make the path in the transition smooth and help, I will go the extra mile, that’s for sure,” Thein said Thursday night.

Stanley’s start date will be decided during contract discussions after the district’s winter break, which goes through Jan. 3, and the offer is contingent on those negotiations.

Challenges for Stanley will include budget cuts and enrollment efforts in a period when schools around the country grapple with declining enrollment. St. Paul’s school board approved a $1 billion budget in June for the current school year, which included around $114.6 million in cuts. They came as significant federal pandemic aid from the American Rescue Plan was set to expire, meaning reductions in many programs and positions including arts and music, special-education interpreters and after-school programs.

Meanwhile, two former St. Paul Public Schools employees, including the district’s former chief financial officer, also filed a lawsuit against the district in November, alleging the district “misused” federal COVID-relief funds and fired the employees for attempting to flag the misappropriation.

To learn more about the district’s superintendent search, go to spps.org/superintendentsearch.

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