St. Paul Public Schools Superintendent Joe Gothard is one of three finalists to lead his hometown school district in Madison, Wis., officials from both districts announced Monday.

Born and raised in Madison, Gothard graduated from high school there and returned to work in the district for 18 years as a teacher, coach and principal. He was hired as superintendent of the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District in Minnesota in 2013 and took the St. Paul job in 2017.

St. Paul Public School superintendent Joe Gothard talks about increasing security at five St. Paul high schools, in the wake of a fatal stabbing at Harding High last week, during a news conference in St. Paul on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2023. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

“It excites me to come back,” Gothard said in a candidate video published by the Madison district. “I’ve been gone for a little over 10 years, and never lost on me was the incredible opportunities I had in Madison.”

None of the St. Paul board members who hired Gothard are still in office, and his children have graduated.

His current contract, signed in 2022, runs through 2025-26 and is loaded with incentives aimed at keeping him from leaving early.

“The pride I have in Madison has never left me. I may have left the state, but certainly my heart and my experiences and my love for my home school district and home city has never left,” the 52-year-old Gothard said in his candidate video. “This stage of my career is all about making meaning, and making meaning leading Madison Metropolitan School District is of the utmost importance to me.”

Gothard will interview in Madison Feb. 6-7, along with Mohammed Choudhury, Maryland’s former state schools superintendent, and Yvonne Stokes, former superintendent in Hamilton, Ind.

Madison’s current superintendent, Carlton Jenkins, announced nearly one year ago that he would be retiring.

The school board there has been interviewing candidates since mid-December. Gothard and the two other finalists will travel to Madison to interview in public.

Madison’s district, somewhat smaller than St. Paul with around 26,000 students, plans to pick its new superintendent by early March.

‘An incredible leader’

In a news release announcing Gothard’s selection, the St. Paul school board called Gothard “an incredible leader” and said that if he leaves, the board “will work closely with SPPS leadership to determine a timeline and transition plan.”

Gothard’s potential departure comes as St. Paul, the state’s second-largest school district, faces a $150 million budget shortfall, concerns over safety, persistent competition from charter schools and contract negotiations with its teachers union.

The St. Paul Federation of Educators has either gone on strike or come close each of the last three bargaining cycles. Contract negotiations already have gone into mediation, and before negotiations became private the district and union positions were $94 million apart.

Gothard last month was named a finalist for the national Superintendent of the Year award from the American Association of School Administrators. That came after he was named Minnesota Superintendent of the Year.

The Minnesota Association of School Administrators touted Gothard’s “transformative change for SPPS with American Rescue Plan (ARP) spending” to create an Innovation Office that supported initiatives across the district.

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