Robbinsdale schools chief will step down

Longtime Robbinsdale schools Superintendent Stan Mack announced Friday that he will retire at the end of the school year.

"Stan has given the district 150 percent all the time and works at the highest level of integrity," said Patsy Green, who leads the Robbinsdale school board.

Mack joined the 12,500-student northwest metro district in 2000 after a long career as a teacher and administrator in several other Minnesota districts, including South St. Paul, Northfield, Eveleth, Osseo and Burnsville.

"I have nothing but absolute positive accolades for the school district," said Mack, 58.

He is known throughout the district for his willingness to meet with district residents or employees whose views about educational issues differed from his own.

Perhaps the greatest test of Mack's leadership came last year during a heated levy referendum campaign in which an Iowa consultant helped organize an anti-levy group that flooded district residents with mailings and phone calls against the proposal. Robbinsdale's 10-year, $22.8 million-a-year levy measure was defeated 53 percent to 47 percent.

Mack called the group's activities "racist, without conscience and untruthful" and didn't back down from those comments when the group filed a lawsuit. The suit against him was later dropped.

After the 2007 levy failed, Mack met with hundreds of parents and community members, and the district put two seven-year levy questions totaling $22 million per year on the Nov. 4 ballot.

"After [the levy] failed, he continued to lead with integrity," Green said. "In fact he took on more responsibility."

Mack's tenure also included the successful resolution of a strike with the district's bus drivers and maintenance workers in 2000, guiding the district through a reorganization in 2004 and spearheading a strategic planning process earlier this year.

"I'm [still] enthusiastic about education," Mack said. "I will keep all of my options open."

Mack will work until June 30.