Semifinalists for St. Paul school board are mostly local

The St. Paul school board will choose the district's next superintendent out of a mostly local pool of candidates.

When the board announced semifinalists Wednesday for the job of leading the state's second-largest district, there was only one out-of-state candidate.

The semifinalists are Elk River Superintendent Mark Bezek, North Branch Superintendent Deborah Henton, recently retired Robbinsdale Superintendent Stan Mack, Deputy Superintendent of the Portland, Ore., schools Charles Hopson, and St. Paul employees Chief Academic Officer Valeria Silva and Chief of Schools Nancy Stachel.

"I'm really excited to see the list," said board chairwoman Kazoua Kong-Thao.

The person hired will replace Meria Carstarphen, who after three years in St. Paul took a job as superintendent of the Austin, Texas, schools this past summer. The St. Paul district has 38,000 students.

When Carstarphen announced she was leaving, many pressed the board to hire someone local who would stay longer.

Although Hopson is not a Minnesotan, "he's spent 20 years in the same district," said Ted Blaesing, who is running the search for the district's search firm, Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates. Hopson wants to move to the Midwest, Blaesing said.

Blaesing said the board is looking "for someone to come and become one of us," and "someone that is familiar with the culture of St. Paul."

Mack said Wednesday night that he decided not to seek a new three-year contract in Robbinsdale "because I wanted to be available for other opportunities, and St. Paul would be among those," he said.

He was reluctant to speak too much about the St. Paul job before his interview, but said he's long admired the St. Paul school district.

"I think it's a great school district," Mack said. "I'm honored to be considered for the position."

Forty-one people applied for the job, and another 15 or 20 expressed interest, according to Blaesing.

Bezek, Henton and Hopson could not be reached for comment Wednesday night. Silva and Stachel declined interview requests.

More on the candidates

• Mark Bezek has been superintendent of the 13,000-student Elk River district for four years. Before that, he was superintendent of the Fergus Falls district and principal of Armstrong High School in Plymouth (in the Robbinsdale district), New Prague and Hawley high schools.

• Deborah Henton has been superintendent of the 3,600-student North Branch district for 2 1/2 years. She also has experience in St. Paul, having served as chief of staff, executive director of alternative learning programs, and principal of Harding High.

• Charles Hopson is the deputy superintendent of schools in the 46,000-student Portland district. Before that, he was a high school area director/superintendent and a high school principal.

• Valeria Silva is chief academic officer for the St. Paul schools. Before that, she was the director of the district's English Language Learner programs and principal at several St. Paul schools.

• Nancy Stachel is chief of schools for the St. Paul schools. Before that, she was deputy chief academic officer, executive director of elementary education and principal at several St. Paul schools.