Robbinsdale school district to interview six superintendent candidates next week

The public is invited to the Robbinsdale School Board’s interviews with the candidates, which are scheduled for Saturday, April 6, at 8:15 a.m.

The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 28, 2024 at 12:00PM
The candidates for superintendent of Robbinsdale Area Public Schools.

The Robbinsdale School Board will interview the six candidates vying to become the district’s next superintendent on Saturday, April 6.

The public is invited to sit in on the interviews, which will begin at 8:15 a.m. at the Education Service Center at 4148 Winnetka Av. N. in New Hope.

The semifinalists were selected from a pool of 14 candidates who applied to replace David Engstrom, who left Robbinsdale Area Public Schools in September. Engstrom, who had been on medical leave at the time, and the district mutually agreed to separate, the district said at the time.

Engstrom joined the district serving about 11,000 students in all or parts of Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Crystal, Golden Valley, New Hope, Plymouth and Robbinsdale in July 2021. His most recent salary was $232,009.

The candidates, in interview order, are:

  • Bondo Nyembwe, executive director of educational services for the Columbia Heights school district
  • Timothy McCray, deputy superintendent for the Madison (Wis.) Metropolitan School District
  • George Nolan, elementary school principal in the Hopkins school district
  • Patrick Duffy, director of teaching, learning and leadership for the St. Louis Park school district
  • Elizabeth Keenan, former superintendent for the Special School District of St. Louis County, Mo.
  • Noel Schmidt, superintendent of Rock Ridge Public Schools in Eveleth, Minn.

about the writer

Tim Harlow

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Tim Harlow covers traffic and transportation issues in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and likes to get out of the office, even during rush hour. He also covers the suburbs in northern Hennepin and all of Anoka counties, plus breaking news and weather. 

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