Superintendent Jennings says he's retiring -- for real

Eastern Carver County's school chief, who had tried to retire earlier this year, now says he's leaving next June.

By LAURIE BLAKE, Star Tribune

Last update: October 9, 2009 - 9:57 PM

David Jennings will retire as superintendent of the Eastern Carver County School District 112 at the end of this school year. But he has not yet decided what he will do next.

"I'm ready to retire from the school business, but I am not going to go home and sit on the porch,'' Jennings said Friday. "I don't know exactly what that means yet.''

Jennings, who will turn 61 in December, had planned to leave the district this past June but postponed his departure when the school board asked him to stay on and help deal with mounting budget concerns.

"By announcing in October, it is my intent to give the school board ample time to select a new superintendent,'' Jennings said.

Known as a skilled administrator, Jennings has a long history of public service.

He served as the Republican speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, the head of the Greater Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, interim superintendent of Minneapolis Schools and finance director for the Minnesota Historical Society before becoming superintendent in 2005 of what was then known as the Chaska School District.

With Jennings at the helm, the growing school district opened a second high school this fall -- Chanhassen High -- as well as a third middle school. It also redesigned its entire secondary academic program.

"There aren't that many districts in Minnesota that are growing, period,'' Jennings said. "The experience of being part of that growth and part of the change that goes with it has been rewarding for me.''

Jennings said he wanted to announce his plans in advance of an upcoming school board retreat and will formally submit his resignation at the board meeting in November.

Laurie Blake • 612-673-1711

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