Goar returns to Minneapolis schools as No. 2

Former Minneapolis school executive Michael Goar is returning to the district as the chief executive under Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson.

Johnson announced the appointment of Goar on Monday, a move that fills a gap open since the departure earlier this year of former CEO Rick Mills for a Florida superintendency after a brief stint in Minneapolis.

But the move leaves a hole at the top of Generation Next, an organization of business, philanthropic and educational organizations announced last November with the aim of attacking the achievement gap. Goal's role as the group's executive director will temporarily be filled by Frank Forsberg of Greater Twin Cities United Way, the group said, pending a search.

Goar returns to the district on July 8 in a role that supervises the non-academic side of the district, including planning, personnel and operations. He will appear for Johnson when she is out of town, but won't supervise academic departments because he doesn't have the required license, said district spokesman Stan Alleyne.

Goar was the district's top human resources administrator before he left when former Superintendent Carol Johnson moved to head Memphis schools in 2003. He later followed her to the Boston superintendency. He was chief operating officer in Memphis, and deputy superintendent/chief operating officer in Boston.

Johnson said she selected Goar because he brings "intimate knowledge of our school district as well as the best practices of other major school systems."

Goar is a Minneapolis native and a grduate of Washburn High School.