The St. Paul school board wants to hear from the public on what to look for in their next superintendent.
The first of four community input sessions will be held next week:
- 6 to 8 p.m. Dec. 15 at Washington Technology Magnet
- 6 to 8 p.m. Jan. 11 at Central Senior High
- 6 to 8 p.m. Jan. 17 at Harding Senior High
- 10 a.m. to noon Jan. 21 at Humboldt High
The district also will make a survey available on its website from Dec. 15 to Jan. 23 and take input at other parent meetings and events like the annual school choice fair Jan. 7.
The suggestions will be forwarded to Ray and Associates, the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, search firm hired to help find the district’s next leader.
The firm is expected to select several semifinalists in March. The board will pick its favorites and visit their home school districts later that month.
A public forum with the finalists is tentatively scheduled for the week of April 17. The board wants to make its choice by May 1.
The board voted in June to buy out the rest of Valeria Silva’s contract. Former Roseville superintendent John Thein came out of retirement in an interim role but is not seeking a permanent appointment.
SCHOOL START TIMES
The board will vote next Tuesday on a resolution to change school start times in fall 2018.
Most school board members want later morning starts for middle and high school students, but that likely will force most elementary students to start earlier.
The resolution does not commit to a particular plan. Instead, it directs the superintendent to come up with a schedule that aligns with “the health and academic best interests” of St. Paul students.
“I think this motion will give us enough flexibility to be creative and to look at options that probably haven’t been considered today,” Thein said.
The latest draft calls for 26 elementary schools to start at 7:45, middle and high schools at 8:30 and 17 elementary schools at 9:30 each morning. It would increase the district’s annual costs by an estimated $2 million to $4.4 million because additional buses would be employed to limit transportation times for the first tier of schools.