Mpls. school board changes deadline, process for picking new superintendent

The Minneapolis school board now intends to have a new superintendent in place by the end of June, not May.

A selection committee the board will establish is not going to see the full slate of candidates applying. Only the chair of that committee, board member Nelson Inz, and a search firm will have that right.

And the group of people vetting the candidates has grown from nine to 11, with an extra community member and the board's newly hired community engagement facilitator sitting at the table.

At a meeting Tuesday, the board was presented with a recommended timeline, a process for selecting who will serve on the search committee, and the roles and responsibilities of everyone involved.

Some of the recommendations were so different from what the board originally said it wanted that board members spent hours discussing and making changes to the proposed procedures.

For example, the district's new search firm, DHR, recommended that the search committee select three finalists but only recommend one candidate to the board's leadership, not the entire board.

That includes the board chair, vice chair, treasurer and clerk. Those board members would negotiate a contract with the final candidate and then the full board would approve the contract.

The board denied that recommendation. Instead, the selection committee will present the board with up to three finalists and the board will vote on a preferred candidate.

The changes come after the board promised the community a more transparent and engaging search for its next leader after the board initially chose Sergio Paez of Massachusetts, but rescinded its offer after complaints came to light about a school in his previous district came to light.

Some board members, including Carla Bates and Rebecca Gagnon, expressed concerns that the search firm was recommending a process drastically different from what the board originally said it wanted.

"The board started out deciding what they wanted to do, but then they brought on a professional firm," said the district's attorney Amy Moore. "The entire board voted for a process. They voted for this firm. They voted for their expertise."

The board voted to expand the size of its selection committee to 11, with an extra community member and the board's community facilitator, Radious Guess. Two students will be part of the 11 members.

Guess will vet the applications and make a recommendation to the board by April 5.

The firm leading the search for Minneapolis' next superintendent said it was not willing to let the committee vet the full slate of candidates who apply for the job, a departure from what the board originally said it wanted.

Instead, Inz, the chair of the committee, and the search firm will vet all the applicants and present the committee with about 10 candidates.

"That's the assumption based on past searches that they have done and numbers that they get," Moore said. "The role of the chair is to bring forth to the selection committee the candidates that meet our profile. Not everyone who applies will meet the profile."

Under the newly approved timeline, the board will vote on a finalist by the end of June.