Mpls. superintendent finalists: State ed commissioner, Anchorage schools leader

Minnesota's education commissioner and the leader of the Anchorage School District are in contention to be the next superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools.

A selection committee made up of three board members, two students and five community members chose Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius and Anchorage superintendent Ed Graff Friday night. The district's school board plans to interview the candidates Tuesday and vote on a superintendent May 24.

This is the district's second go-around at finding a superintendent. The school board cut off talks with top candidate Sergio Paez in January, following allegations that special-needs students had been abused at a school in Paez's former district.

Interim Superintendent Michael Goar was a finalist in the initial search, but withdrew his name for the permanent position shortly after talks halted with Paez.

Cassellius is an experienced Minneapolis administrator. She served as associate superintendent and an assistant principal in the district before moving to the Minnesota Department of Education in 2011.

She lives in Minneapolis and has two children who are students in the district. The move from state government to big-city superintendent would be a significant pay bump for her: As commissioner, her base salary was $115,169 in 2014. The Minneapolis job pays $190,000 a year.

Graff has been the Anchorage superintendent for three years, since the retirement of the district's previous leader. The district's school board decided not to renew Graff's contract in October, according to the Alaska Dispatch News.

The contract expired in March but was extended through June while the district searched for a new leader. Graff is originally from Minnesota, according to the Anchorage district's website, and started in Anchorage in 1991.

Whoever assumes the superintendent position in June will need to hit the ground running. Minneapolis has a voter-approved referendum up for renewal in November, and the district currently depends on the referendum money for just over eight percent of its budget.

Former Minneapolis school board member Pam Costain said the new superintendent will also have to rebuild trust after the long search.

"The next superintendent is going to have to act very quickly to stabalize the district and restore some confidence in a number of people: in the staff, in the parent core, and in the community at large," Costain said. "In a year where the conversation has been about the superintendency we've lost sight of all the good work that goes on in the actual classrooms, and I think that story needs to be told."

If you go: Meet the finalists

Community members can meet the superintendent finalists at a reception next week.

• When: Monday, May 16
• Time: 6-8 p.m.
• Where: Minneapolis Public Schools administration building, 1250 W. Broadway Ave. [get directions]
• More information: Minneapolis Public Schools website