West St. Paul school district names superintendent

After months of searching, it took the West St. Paul school board less than a minute Wednesday night to select its new superintendent.

The board unanimously selected Nancy Allen-Mastro, currently the assistant superintendent of the nearby Bloomington school district, to lead the 4,500-student district in Dakota County.

After interviewing three finalists, the board took a quick secret ballot and Allen-Mastro got six of the seven votes.

The lone holdout quickly agreed to support the choice; Allen-Mastro accepted the job after the board vote and meeting.

"I am very excited about the opportunity," Allen-Mastro said after the vote. "I feel I am a good match for what the district is looking for."

The district has been looking for a new superintendent for months.

The three finalists included Jon Lamberson, superintendent of the 1,600-student Riverside public schools in Riverside, Ill., who interviewed first on Monday. He was followed on Tuesday by Allen-Mastro. Sharon Freeman, assistant superintendent of the St. Paul School District, was the final candidate, and she was interviewed on Wednesday.

The West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan School District had an interim superintendent this year after Jay Haugen left in 2011.

Last year, the district and the board began an extensive review of the district with the hopes of reducing waste, improving facilities, raising revenue and adding to its offerings of online classes for students.

The board accepted the report earlier this year, and since then district staff and educators have been looking for ways to make changes.

How to make those changes were some of the questions the finalists faced.

"We all know change is coming," board member Joanne Mansur said.